AHS Junior Onesti Elkholm and Senior Devin Kelly received money for placing first and second in the 2022 Wonders of Plastics’ Essay Competition.

Elkholm received $250 for first place and Kelly won $125 for placing second.

The essays are posted below. They could also be found here.

 

Plastics:  The Super Hero of the 21st Century 

By Onesti Marie Ekholm-Dean 

I was eight when plastic saved my life. I woke up that morning with searing pain in my lower abdomen. I had attempted to get out of bed, but I fell to the floor unable to walk. My mom immediately rushed me to the hospital. 

I had been diagnosed with appendicitis. Stuck in a hospital bed, plastic tubes dangling from my arm, I was a small child that did not understand what was happening to me. With a plastic doll clenched tightly in my hand and nurses surrounding me, I was told that I needed emergency surgery. 

I was rushed to an operating table. The doctors fixed a plastic oxygen mask to my face and told me to count back from ten. Removing their tools from their sterilized plastic packaging, they began to repair the damage that my ruptured appendix had caused to my body. 

After my surgery, I was in the hospital for days. Plastic bags filled with saline constantly delivered my medication through plastic tubes. Nurses rolled plastic carts in and out of my room, delivering essential medicine and supplies to aid me in the healing process. 

Many children around the U.S share this same story, along with the same hero. As we were focused  on healing, plastic was working in the background. Plastic is an essential part of many industries including automobiles, toy manufacturing, and the medical field. 

On my journey to the hospital, plastic had been securing me in my seat. Plastics are used to manufacture many important parts of vehicles: the seatbelt, dashboard, gauges, dials, switches, air conditioning vents, airbags, and floor mats all contain plastic. Not only had plastic protected me in the car that day, it has been saving lives in automobile accidents since the early 1970’s. It is estimated that seat belts have saved over 300,000 lives, most being accredited to plastic. 

 

A day in the life of plastic

By Devin Kelly

I wake up in the morning in a room warmed by a space heater made of hard plastic. I am thankful for the comfort it brings me. This makes me think about all the kinds of plastics. There are hard plastics, soft plastics, sticky plastics, smooth plastics, plastics that look like wood, plastic that feels like metal, plastic that is stiff, plastic that is bendy, and a plethora of other types of plastic. 

I get out of bed and grab my phone to check the time. Almost late for school today, I think drowsily. I feel the European Leather finish of my case which is actually made of a hard polycarbonate plastic. Starting the day off with supplements keeps me on top of my world. I grab the plastic bottle that contains the capsules that I need, and I take the pills down with water. Into my stomach, the supplements travel, encapsulated by plastic. Yes, you read that right. The plastic is cellulose. Cellulose is a wood-based plastic that the stomach can process. This makes me think about how consumed the world is by plastic. Even as I write this document now, I am pressing plastic keys on a keyboard that has clicks that travel through wires covered in plastic.

Plastic is probably the most versatile material in the world. I can’t think of one industry in the world that doesn’t use plastic in some way or another. Anyway, I grab my keys and start my car with a plastic remote start. This way my car is warm by the time I get out there and get into it. 

I sit on my seats which are made of polyurethane—a type of soft plastic. I grab my steering wheel, which is also made of polyurethane plastic (except in a harder shape). My tires made of synthetic rubber begin to turn and I am on my way to school. I pass traffic cones made of polyethylene, that keep me safe in construction zones.

I arrive at school and I head in. My first order of business is opening my binder made of plastic in my first-hour class. I use this on a daily basis to aid me in my education. I flip through the papers finding the one page I need for the hour. I take out my pen so I can start taking notes. A simple design just plastic and ink. I repeat the process until I leave for the day. 

 

Kelly’s English teacher,Elizabeth Jorgensen, wrote to Ray Ciezki, the SPE Education Chairperson and contest coordinator: “I hope The Wonders of Plastics essay competition was a success! Congratulations to you and your efforts!” 

Jorgensen said she wanted to thank him for the time he took to read all of the submitted essays. She continued to write, “Thank you for offering this authentic writing opportunity and for reading my students’ essays!”

Jorgensen said she offered this writing competition to her first-semester students. “I provided my students with three different writing competitions. Students choose to write for one, or two, or all three of the competitions.”

Ciezki responded to Jorgensen saying, “It’s great to see your enthusiasm for your students.” 

Elkholm said she was surprised to see her placement. “I was honestly really surprised when I saw that I had won the contest. I submitted my essay unsure that I was going to win, but I am very happy that my effort paid off!”

Elkholm had discovered the competition through her Composition teacher Terri Carnell.

Elkhold said she had inspiration., “ I was inspired by an experience I had when I was very young. I was in the hospital for around a week for a ruptured appendix, which because of medical advancements it’s not a big deal now, but back in 2010, it was more complicated. I was basically bedridden for weeks after the surgery.”

Elkholm said she saw the importance of plastics in connection to her surgery. “I thought about this experience because I realized how much plastic was involved in it. Almost every step of my hospitalization, whether it was driving there, the actual surgery, or even the recovery process, has plastic. Honestly without plastic, I’m not sure I, or any of us, would still be here today. ”