In January, junior Eleanor McCrary and senior Una Selmanovic won the Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest.

McCrary and Selmanovic had to write a 700 word minimum and 1,000 word maximum essay about what Martin Luther’s I Have a Dream speech meant to them and everyone today. They also had to write about what it meant when the speech was first spoken.

“I got an email about the essay contest from Ms. Sutherlin,” McCrary said. Selmanovic found out about the contest from the same email sent to students about the contest.

McCrary won first place and received $2,000 in scholarship money, and Selmanovic won third place and received $500 in scholarship money. The two won’t be able to use the money until college and only for college.

McCrary said she won’t be able to have the money until she goes to college. She wants to attend college in Oregon at her dream schools of Portland State University or University of Oregon. Selmanovic will be able to use her money this fall when she attends St. Charles Community College for pre-pharmacy then later University of Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Pharmacy. She already has a use for the money.

“I plan to use it for my college textbooks this fall,” Selmanovic said.

Both McCrary and Selmanovic plan to attend college, and use their money to help pay for the necessities of college. Selmanovic plans on studying pharmacy, while McCrary said, “I’m not completely sure, but probably something in communications.”