The winners of the annual freshman Big Read Essay Contest at Coastal Carolina University were announced at the New Student Convocation on Aug. 21.

"Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum" by Jessica Posner and Kennedy Odede was the 2016 Big Read book for incoming freshmen. The authors addressed the 2,300 students at the convocation. Afterward, small group discussions were held around campus, and Posner and Odede participated in two of the sessions.

Caitlin Hinnerschitz, an elementary education major from Myrtle Beach, won first place with her essay titled "Jessica and Kennedy: The Unknown Changes the World." She won a $150 bookstore gift card and CCU gear.

Brenna Kallod, a music major from West Fargo, N.D., won second place ($75 bookstore gift card plus Coastal gear), and Allyson Ridenour, an applied physics major from Louisville, Ky., won third place ($25 bookstore gift card and CCU gear).

"Find Me Unafraid" was selected by the Big Read Selection Committee for its inspirational, nonfiction story. Posner, a Wesleyan University coed, traveled to Kenya, Africa, on a study abroad trip in 2007, where she met Odede. The African had a hardscrabble childhood in Kibera, the poorest and largest slum in Africa, before he started a movement called Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). From that movement and with the help of Posner, together they founded a school for girls and a community clinic, which now has 210 employees and serves 76,000 individuals through its school and the health and community services. The couple also fell in love and married in 2015.

All first-semester freshmen were invited to enter the Big Read Essay Contest, although it was not mandatory.

The mission of the Big Read program is to unite incoming CCU freshmen in an enjoyable shared learning experience prior to beginning their academic course work.