Lillyana Gephart wins 2021 SIC Paul Simon Essay Contest

HARRISBURG - A student essay reflecting on how community college has given her life new direction earned Lillyana Gephart of Tunnel Hill the 2021 Paul Simon Essay award at Southeastern Illinois College.

Gephart grew up traveling with missionary parents, spending much of her time in the Dominican Republic, where she attended high school. She is currently a student at SIC, works as a mentor for SIC's TRIO program helping other students, and works for a local accountant. Her future aspirations are to run a business to help missionaries in the field with fundraising and other needs on the business side of things, such as taxes.

"Having been involved in missionary work and seeing firsthand some of their struggles, especially with finding enough funding to do their mission work effectively, I believe I can put what I'm learning in business classes and at work to use in helping missionaries from here in the United States," Gephart said.

Gephart, though not always sold on higher education, has enjoyed her time at SIC and is passionate about using her education to help others. When asked about winning the Paul Simon Essay Contest, she says she was just being honest.

"I applied for this contest because I try to apply for whatever is available so that I can amass enough to get me kickstarted for either further education, future ministry work I hope to start one day, or whatever else God has for me," Gephart said. "Though the essay started out for these reasons, it flowed as I was writing it and came from my heart. When I was told I won, I was so excited I got up and started jumping all around, and then ran outside in my house slippers to tell my grandfather. It was less about the prize at that moment and more about having the words from my heart being recognized."

Gephart's essay will be entered into the Illinois Community College Trustees Association's Paul Simon Student Essay Contest at the state level. The winner of that contest will receive a $500 scholarship during an annual awards luncheon this summer in Normal.

For more information on the contest, call (217) 528-2858, ext. 1.