Eden Rhodes is a senior at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Rhodes entered the Reginald F. Lewis contest for a well-written essay on Reginald F. Lewis’ autobiography, “Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?” Rhodes wrote an excellent essay and later won the prestigious Reginald F. Lewis essay contest.
According to Rhodes, “My mom is the one who told me about the contest. I knew of Reginald F. Lewis, but my knowledge of him was very surface-level. As one of my interests is African American history, I wanted to learn more about Lewis’ full story and his impact on the Baltimore community.”
After reading Lewis’ book, Rhodes realized there were four major themes in the life of Reginald F. Lewis. Rhodes says, “Those themes being purpose, planning, perseverance, and philanthropy. I then went into detail discussing the key points from his life that I felt best displayed these themes.” While writing this essay, Rhodes was highly reflective of the autobiography and ways she could apply the themes learned from Lewis to her own life.
Rhodes used what she had learned, finalized and submitted the essay. According to Rhodes, “When I won, I was honestly shocked and grateful for the opportunity that I received to apply. I met Reginald F. Lewis’ wife, Loida Nicolas Lewis, and brother, Anthony Fuget. The best reward from this experience was the following lessons I learned from Reginald F. Lewis’ life: You will always be your biggest opponent, and you shouldn’t place limits on yourself because, as black students, society already does that for us. Secondly, make pathways and open doors because you can’t wait for opportunities to find you. Lastly, to be successful in life, you need to have a purpose, a plan, and perseverance. I learned a lot from the legacy of Reginald F. Lewis and how his impact influences Baltimore youth today.”
The Reginald F. Lewis essay-writing contest was assembled to commemorate the legacy and impact of Lewis, who would have turned 80 this December. The foundation partnered with the AFRO newspaper for the contest because, at ten years old, Lewis labored as a paperboy for the Baltimore publication, expanding his customer base from 10 to over 100 in two years.
Rhodes won the contest not merely because she wrote a well-written essay, but based on the time and effort put into well-thought-out ideas and putting her best work onto the paper.
