Deniz Dogan, Daniel Martinez, and Caroline France, winners of the "It's a Small World After All" essay contest at Greenville Tech, sponsored by Michelin.
Speakers at the event included Dr. Cynthia King, a Furman University professor of communication, who explored stereotypes as telling only one aspect of an individual or group's story and globalization as a connection of ideas.
Dr. Reggie Bruster, an English professor at Greenville Tech, used Walt Whitman's poem, "Song of Myself," in a discussion of interactions with others that expand experiences.
The Director of Diversity at Michelin, Sharda Mohammed, talked about the importance of cultural diversity at Michelin as a way to attract new employees, improve market knowledge, bring better ideas to the workplace, reduce market risks, leverage uniqueness of individuals, and create both personnel and personal development.
The first place winner, Deniz Dogan, received a set of Michelin tires. Her essay was about her experiences in Istanbul, Turkey. Caroline France took the 2nd place cash prize of $250 with an essay about her experiences teaching in Shanghai. Daniel Martinez won the 3rd place $75 prize for an essay about his experiences with Hispanic culture in America. There were also three runners up prizes for excellent essay submissions from Martharine Lester, Tiffany Burke and Anastasia Cryer.