Kishwaukee College recently named Woodfin Billingsly as the 2026 Paul Simon Student Essay Contest winner and Alanna Nelson as the 2026 Gandhi/King Peace Scholarship recipient.
The students were awarded scholarships and achievement certificates at the college’s Board of Trustees May meeting.
Billingsly’s essay, titled “How my community college changed my life,” chronicles their health issues journey and how Kishwaukee College provided education advancement and career path discovery resources and support.
“Through Kish, I learned how to advocate for myself and my disabilities, what interests me in the world, and how to love life again,” Billingsly wrote in the essay, according to a news release. “I’ve met many people who have become friends and a part of my community, which I never would have been able to have without attending Kishwaukee College.”
Billingsly said the essay’s prompt was relatable and a way to express that it is never too late to make a change for the better.
“The Paul Simon Student Essay Contest had a subject that I felt I could strongly answer without exaggerating my viewpoint or feeling boxed in,” Billingsly said in the release. “Community college has genuinely changed my life in an irrevocable way.”
Billingsly plans on graduating with an Associate in Science degree in Spring 2027. They also intend to earn an environmental studies degree from Northern Illinois University.
Gandhi/King Peace Scholarship participants wrote an essay outlining a nonviolent response plan to discrimination and hate based on the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.
Nelson’s essay proposed the creation of structured campus gatherings for students to meet, discuss and build differing points of view into an understanding.
“As a community, we have more in common than we sometimes realize. If we intentionally create spaces where we teach respectful engagement, the campus can become an example of what nonviolent leadership looks like. In a divided nation, that example matters,” Nelson wrote in the essay, according to the release.
Drawing on her time as a student at Kish, Nelson said she felt the essay’s prompt was closely related to experiences she has had inside and outside the classroom.
“As a nontraditional student, I have had the opportunity to interact with people from many backgrounds, age groups, and perspectives,” Nelson also said in the release. “The prompt felt real to me, not just theoretical, and I wanted to speak on that from a place of lived experience.”
She is pursuing an Associate of Science degree and will join the college’s nursing program during the fall semester. Nelson plans on working as a registered nurse and pursuing further education.
The essays were forwarded to the Illinois Community College Trustees Association to be entered into the statewide Paul Simon Student Essay and Gandhi/King Peace Scholarship competitions.
To read the essays, visit kish.edu/iccta.