Optimum Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with Annual Student Essay Contest

Optimum, together with co-sponsor TelevisaUnivision, is proud to announce the start of its annual Hispanic Heritage essay contest across Optimum’s service area. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the essay contest recognizes and celebrates the diverse histories, cultures, and contributions of generations of Hispanic Americans across the country.

Available to all middle and high school students across Optimum’s 21-state footprint, the essay contest will run from Friday, September 15 to Tuesday, October 31 and boasts a total of four Grand Prize scholarships of $3,000 as well as Honorable Mention prizes. This year’s prompt is:

Opportunities to connect culturally with others occur each day, whether through media and entertainment, experiences, or relationships with people in your community. In 500 words or less, choose a person, group of people, or cultural experience (TV show, movie, music, app, event) that has helped you to connect to Hispanic culture and what that means to you.

“Optimum is excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the launch of our annual essay contest,” said Lisa Gonzalez Anselmo, Chief Diversity Officer at Altice USA/Optimum. “This contest provides students from all backgrounds the opportunity to reflect and honor the meaningful impact of Hispanic culture in our society and each year, we are moved by the heartfelt and compelling student essays. From personal stories to discussions on cultural influence, the perspectives these students share provide a glimpse into our future generation of leaders and highlight the importance of cultural connection and understanding. We look forward to reading this year’s submissions.”

Eligibility Requirements

  • Participants must be a student in grades 6-12 and attend a school in the Optimum service area;
  • Participants from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds are welcome to submit an essay;
  • Essay submissions must be written in English;
  • All essay submissions must be received by 11:59 pm EST on October 31, 2023.

For more on Optimum’s Hispanic Heritage essay contest, including submission requirements, information on prizes, and how to submit essays, visit optimum.com/hhm.