According to the official Laws of Life website, the Laws of Life Essay contest asks students to write about a personal lesson learned, or a ‘law’ that they live their lives by. Often, these are memorable and meaningful to the individual, and judged for their depth and ability to convey the personal message in an essay format.
Ten students at McIntosh participated in the 2025-2026 Laws of Life contest, chosen through English teacher recommendation. Their papers were then looked at by judges and Sydney Harwell was nominated for the Susan G. Mason Founder’s Award at a state level.
Behind the State Winning Essay
Some people learn lessons through hard moments, while others just happen to have a light bulb go off in their head. For Harwell, her essay contained both.
“My brother was going on a trip with like twenty other people from our church. It was going to be him, and a really close family friend. And then very last minute, the day before they were supposed to leave, one of the guys was like ‘I’m sick. I can’t go. Does Sydney want to go?”
Harwell decided: why not go to Kentucky? And she was there the next day, building, drilling and hammering wood into place on a mission trip alongside her church–eventually leading to the curation of her state winning essay.
Celebration Ceremony
Students across the state of Georgia who won awards for their essays were taken to the Rotary Club on Mar. 26. Other winners not included in the group photo include junior Anika Thiyag (grade winner), freshman Matthew Kennemore (honorable mention), freshman Miles Brown (honorable mention), sophomore Violet Thomas (honorable mention) and junior Brennan Coiro (honorable mention.)
“I wasn’t told that I won a state title until we went to the competition. They just said you’re a grade winner. We got there, and Miss Patterson went up to the podium, and she said ‘I’m not sure if she knows this yet, but she’s actually the school winner,” Harwell said.
Students read their stories out loud and received applause for the moving laws that they live their lives by.
“The ceremony was wonderful. After sharing her moving, heartfelt story, each student received a standing ovation from the club members. The competition offers a unique opportunity to showcase the exceptional writing and amazing personal stories of McIntosh students,” Patterson said.
