national high school essay contest

HSFSA Essay Contest

The HSFSA is working with the American Foreign Service Association to provide a free essay contest to help high school students prepare for AFSA's National High School Essay Contest .

Having the same policies, the same judges, and a similar topic structure, this contest provides the perfect opportunity for students to master the ways to success in the main contest.

Winners Announced!

The High School Foreign Service Association would like to thank all students who participated in the organization's first essay contest! The judges were impressed by the quality and diversity of the submissions. All participants received their judge scoring sheet, which gave specific comments and scores regarding the quality of the submission as well as offering advice for improvement. The top 15 students also took part in a feedback webinar, learning about how to approach diplomacy-themed essays, how to structure their work and research, and much more.

We would like to congratulate:

Owen Wu from Walton High School for receiving 1st place

Olivia Schwab from Oswego East High School for receiving 2nd place

We would also like to give special recognition to the HSFSA chapter at Arroyo High School for having the greatest number of participants originating from a single school.

The HSFSA would like to express gratitude to the American Foreign Service Association for its assistance with judging, sponsoring, and organizing the essay contest, and we look forward to conducting more essay contests in the future.

Contest Info

• $200 gift card
• A copy of Inside a U.S. Embassy , signed by Ambassador Eric Rubin - the President of the American Foreign Service Association
• $100 gift card
• Judge feedback webinar - speak to the judges to learn how to improve your essay for the main contest!

Prizes are the courtesy of the American Foreign Service Association.

Contest Dates

Submissions open: October 13, 2022 (10:00 AM ET)

Submissions closed: November 6, 2022 (11:59 PM ET)

Results annnounced: November 21, 2022 (10:00 AM ET)

Eligibility

Participants must be students enrolled in grades 9-12 in a U.S. high school or an equivalent.

It is not required for a student to be part of an HSFSA chapter or any other organization to participate.

Participation is completely free.

Contest Rules

Topic: Select one form of diplomacy (i.e. economic, cultural, public, etc.) and discuss how it has evolved in the past 100 years. Feel free to select a country or region to use as an example or case study.

Length: Your essay should be no shorter than 500 and no longer than 750 words (not including the title and sources)

Sources: Standards of content and style from current edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers will be expected for (1) documentation of sources in the text of your essay; (2) the format of the list of works cited; and (3) margins and indentation. A bibliography following the MLA Handbook must be included.

Fill out the submission form below. All fields on the online form are required, including uploading a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) file of your original work with a title, in English which should include a comprehensive list of sources consulted. Entries must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman or an equivalent font with a one-inch margin on all sides of the page. It is advised that you have your teacher/sponsor review your essay before submitting it.

Additional Resources

The Winter Cohort application deadline is November 24, 2024.  

Click here to apply.

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AFSA's National High School Essay Contest - 8 Reasons Why You Should Participate

If you’re in high school, you’re probably already planning your college applications – especially if you’re a junior or a senior. A significant addition to applications and your profile can be extra-curricular competitions! When your college application includes your participation and potential achievements in a prestigious contest, it shows admissions officers your intellectual curiosity, analytical abilities, and commitment to tackling real-world problems.  Admissions officers look for students who are not just academically accomplished but also curious and capable of independent, critical thinking. 

Participating in essay contests gives students the opportunity to enhance their academic portfolios, refine their writing skills, and learn more about politics and society.  One such prestigious competition is the National High School Essay Contest ,  conducted by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).

What is the AFSA National High School Essay Contest?

Every year since 1999,  this essay contest engages high school students from across the country to learn and write about issues of peace and conflict . The competition encourages students to appreciate diplomacy’s role in building partnerships that can advance peacebuilding and protect national security. 

For the contest, students must write an essay responding to a crisis topic or prompt from the perspective of foreign service members who are trying to resolve the crisis.

The contest is AFSA’s main outreach initiative to high school students. The winner and first runner-up receive cash prizes apart from other tuition awards.  

How is it structured?

The applications for AFSA’s National High School Essay Contest are currently open.  Applications will close on April 1, 2024.

Eligibility:

Students in grades 9-12 can participate, whether their parents are in the Foreign Service or not.

Students in the US and US citizens/permanent residents attending high school overseas can participate.

Students in public, private and parochial schools can participate. Entries from home-schooled students will be accepted as well.

Students who received honorable mentions in the contest previously are eligible to participate again.

Students who have won first place in this contest previously are not eligible to participate.

Students who are immediate relatives of directors or staff of the AFSA, Semester at Sea and National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) are not eligible to participate.

The winner of the contest will receive a $2,500 prize, in addition to a paid trip to Washington, DC, from anywhere in the country (with his or her parents). The winner also receives an all-expense paid educational voyage, courtesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up will receive $1,250 prize, and full tuition to attend a summer session of International Diplomacy program at the prestigious National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC).

The winner's school also receives a donation of 10 copies of AFSA's Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work.

Submission rules, content and judging

Your essay should be at least 1,000 words but should not exceed 1,500 words  (the word count does not apply to the list of sources).

Submissions will be judged on the quality of analysis, quality of research, and form, style and mechanics. Successful entries will answer all aspects of the prompt and demonstrate an understanding of the Foreign Service. All qualifying essays will be judged blind through several rounds of judging. 

You’ll need to submit your essay as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx), written in English. 

For more submission rules, such as how to list your sources or how to format your essay, please visit this page .

Your essay will be disqualified if it does not meet the requirements or is submitted after the submission date (April 1, 2024).

Additionally, student registration forms must have a teacher or sponsor name. That person may review the submitted essay and act as the key contact between participants and AFSA. You might benefit from having a coordinator review your essay.

The 2023 Prompt:

This year, AFSA celebrates the 100th anniversary of the United States Foreign Service. Over the last century, our diplomats and development professionals have been involved in groundbreaking events in history – decisions on war and peace, supporting human rights and freedom, creating joint prosperity, reacting to natural disasters and pandemics and much more. As AFSA looks back on this century-long history, we invite you to join us in also looking ahead to the future. This year students are asked to explore how diplomats can continue to evolve their craft to meet the needs of an ever-changing world that brings fresh challenges and opportunities to the global community and America’s place in it.

Over the past 100 years the Foreign Service has faced a multitude of challenges such as world war, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, humanitarian disasters, global pandemics, and economic crises. In a 1,000-1,500-word essay please identify what you believe will be the biggest challenge to face the Foreign Service in the future. The essay will describe this challenge and clearly define how American diplomats can help mitigate it.

Tips to write a winning entry: Here’s a few suggestions, from AFSA themselves, for you to look through before submitting your essay.

Does your essay clearly demonstrate that you understand the role of the Foreign Service in carrying out American diplomacy?

Have you used past or current diplomatic efforts to support what you believe is the best response to the prompt? (Winning essays almost always do!)

Have you read through some of the past winners’  essays? You must, to get a fair idea of what makes a solid piece.

Does the essay clearly answer this year’s essay contest question?

Have you given your essay a descriptive title?

Is your essay at least 1,000 words and no more than 1,500 words long excluding works cited?

Have you made sure that your name, school, or city do NOT appear anywhere in the essay?

Have you scrupulously followed accepted standards regarding attribution of quotations, arguments, and ideas of others within the body of your paper and bibliography?

Have you made sure that Wikipedia is not a source?

Does your essay have standardized citations and bibliography?

Does your essay have the required endnotes, and not footnotes?

Are your online sources listed separately from other sources in your bibliography?

Is your teacher's name and contact information included as detailed in the contest guidelines?

Go through these additional resources  that can help you with your submission for the contest.  You can also read through this excerpt  from the book, US. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work, which details exactly what the Foreign Service is. This would be useful information to have when answering this year’s prompt!

8 Reasons to Participate:

Participating in AFSA’s National High School Essay Contest can be a rewarding experience for high school students. Here are 8 compelling reasons why you should consider taking part in this essay competition:

It is prestigious: Winning, placing as the first runner-up, or even receiving an honorable mention in this contest is considered a high honor, especially because it showcases your excellent writing and research skills.

The contest is selective: Of hundreds of submissions received, only one winner and one runner-up is selected every year. Participating (and receiving an honor) in such a selective competition displays academic achievement.

You can win a hefty cash prize, among other awards:  The winner receives a $2,500 prize, along with a paid trip to Washington, DC (including his or her parents) and an all-expense paid educational voyage, courtesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up receives a $1,250 prize, and full tuition to attend a summer session of the International Diplomacy program at the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC). The monetary rewards can support future educational endeavors. 

It’s a great skill-building opportunity: Whether you win or not, the process of researching and writing a 1000-word essay is no small feat. It will challenge your analytical skills, giving you a chance to hone your academic abilities and critical thinking skills, preparing you for your future academics. Additionally, learning to write about a fairly broad topic in such few words is great practice for the type of writing required within university-level academics. 

It looks great on college applications: Again, whether you win or not, the fact that you attempted a submission in this contest is something to be proud of in itself. Adding that to your resume or college application looks great and can impress admissions officers! Not to mention, if you place first or second, that shows a certain level of skill and talent that admissions officers are definitely looking for. 

It is accessible and open to everyone: Unlike many competitions that charge application fees, the essay contest is free to enter, making it accessible to all interested students. This eliminates financial barriers and encourages broader participation. The competition is open to students from grades 9 to 12, spanning a range of educational backgrounds, including public, private, and home-study programs. This inclusivity ensures that students from various educational settings can participate and share their perspectives.

It will give you a solid insight into your country’s Foreign Services: Participating in this competition will allow you to delve into studying diplomatic efforts, noteworthy events in history, the challenges Foreign Services members tackle, human rights, war and peace and so much more. It will encourage you to think beyond local context and appreciate the larger picture.

It gives great exposure: The winner will attend a paid trip to Washington D.C., where they will meet a member of the White House (last year’s winner met Secretary of State Anthony Blinken), and a paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea.

If you’d like to supplement your competitive experience with independent research, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs ! 

This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. 

You can find the application link here

One other option – Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you are passionate about research, you could also consider applying to the   Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online program for students I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the   application form  here.

Also check out the   Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation , a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.

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"…gun control legislation comparable to the legislation in force in virtually every civilized country in the world." Senator Thomas Dodd, June 11, 1968

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Our 2024 National High School Essay Contest Is Now Closed to New Student Entries

Note: the deadline for students to enter our 2024 national high school essay contest was april 20. the contest is now closed to new entries. return to this page in late may to read the winning essays., americans against gun violence is pleased to announce that our 2024 national high school essay contest is now open for student entries. we’ll be awarding at least $15,000 in total scholarships again this year distributed among 12 winners, with the option of giving additional awards, as we’ve done in most past years,  if there are more than 12 outstanding essays. the deadline for students to enter the contest is 11:59 pm in the student’s own time zone on saturday, april 20. here are the full contest details, including the link to the online entry form:,      · essay topic.

• To enter the 2024 Americans Against Gun Violence National High School Essay Contest, students must submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer describing their thoughts about the following excerpt from the Americans Against Gun Violence mission statement:

“ In creating constitutional obstacles, where none previously existed, to the adoption of stringent gun control laws in the United States comparable to the laws in other high income democratic countries, the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision and its progeny are literally death sentences for tens of thousands of Americans annually.”

The full mission statement is posted on the home page of our Americans Against Gun Violence website.

• How does the essay contest prompt compare with what you’ve learned about the Second Amendment and/or the Heller decision from other sources, including teachers, parents, elected officials, the popular media, the gun lobby, other gun violence prevention organizations, etc.?
• Does the essay contest prompt stimulate you to learn more about the history of the Second Amendment and/or court decisions concerning the scope of the Second Amendment?
• Have you actually read the Heller decision and/or other related court decisions yourself, and if so, what’s your own impression of the decision(s)?
• Why do you think that some people and some organizations might be reluctant or afraid to challenge the commonly held view that the Second Amendment was intended to confer an individual right to own guns unrelated to service in a “well regulated militia.”
• Does the essay contest prompt stimulate you to learn more about the differences between gun control laws in the United States and the laws in other high income democratic countries?
• Does the essay contest prompt stimulate you to think more about what might be the main causes of our country’s extraordinarily high rate of gun violence – including the high number of school shootings – and what are the definitive measures needed to stop our country’s epidemic of gun violence?
• What role do you think that you and other high school students can play in helping to stop our country’s epidemic of gun violence, including school shootings?

     ·  Contest Eligibility and Rules

• Contestants must be high school students in good standing attending school in the United States or its territories.
• Students who entered high school on track to graduate in 2024 but who graduated early are also eligible.
• Americans Against Gun Violence Board members, employees, and paid consultants and their first and second degree relatives are not eligible. Students who have worked as summer interns with Americans Against Gun Violence on an independent contractor basis and who are still in high school are eligible.
• Students are encouraged to access information posted on the Americans Against Gun Violence website, including, in particular, information on the Facts and FAQ’s and Links to Other Resources pages, among other resource materials, and to discuss the essay topic with teachers, parents, friends, and other mentors; but students must write their essays themselves, in their own words. Essays that are largely or entirely computer generated will not be considered for scholarship awards.
• Students who are under the age of 18 must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to enter the contest.
• To enter the contest, students must submit their essays and demographic information via this link: (The essay contest is now closed to new entries)
• Essays may include a title and footnotes, but these elements are not required. If titles and footnotes are included, they don’t count toward the 500 word limit.
• Only one essay will be considered per student. If a student submits more than one essay, the most recent submission will be the one that is considered.
• The deadline to enter the contest is 11:59 PM in the student’s own time zone on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Late entries will not be accepted unless the lateness was caused by a malfunction of the Americans Against Gun Violence online entry system.

     ·    Selection of Contest Winners

• A minimum of twelve contest winners will be selected from the essays submitted.
• The Americans Against Gun Violence Board of Directors will establish a panel of reviewers to rate essays based on accuracy, originality, clarity, cohesiveness, and overall impact.
• Essay reviewers will be blinded to all student identifying information.
• Contest winners will be notified by email by Monday, May 20, 2024.
• At the time that students are notified that they’ve been chosen as contest winners, they’ll also be sent a signature form that includes the following elements:
• A statement that the essay submitted is the student’s own original work
• A statement signed by a parent or legal guardian, if the student is under age 18, confirming that the parent or guardian approves of the student’s participation in the essay contest
• A statement by a school official confirming that the contestant is a high school student in good standing or that the student entered high school on track to graduate in 2024 but graduated early
• In order to receive a scholarship award, students must return the signed signature forms within 30 days of being notified that they are contest winners.

Scholarship Awards (Total of at least $15,000)

• Scholarship awards will be sent to essay contest winners with the understanding that the awards will be used to pay for future qualified expenses that lead to a college degree or a professional certification in a recognized occupation, in accordance with IRS guidelines for non-taxable scholarships.
• Scholarship awards will be sent in the form of a check by U.S. mail to the home address listed on the students’ entry forms within five business days of receipt of winners’ completed signature forms.
• The first place winner will be sent a check for a $3,000 scholarship award; second place a $2,500 award; and third place a $2,000 award.
• The fourth through tenth ranked winners will each be sent $1,000 awards, and the 11 th and 12 th ranked winners will each be sent $250 awards.
• If any of the students chosen as one of the top 12 winners don’t submit their completed signature forms within 30 of being notified, their awards may be given to other lower ranked student entrants.
• Americans Against Gun Violence reserves the option of also offering additional scholarship awards of $100 each to students not ranked in the top 12 if the essay contest reviewers feel that their essays merit such awards. (In past years, up to 20 additional $100 awards have been offered.)

Publication of Essays and Release of Students’ Names and High School Affiliations

• By entering the contest, students agree to allow Americans Against Gun Violence to publish their essays in part or in whole in any way that the Board of Directors deems to be appropriate, but without the students’ names, high school affiliations, or other identifying information.
• When the contest winners are notified that they have been chosen to receive awards, they will be provided with forms to indicate whether they would like to have their names and/or high school affiliations released in association with their essays. Americans Against Gun Violence will not publish the students’ names and/or high school affiliations without the written consent of the student, and, if the student is under 18 year of age, the consent of a parent or guardian.

Summary of Essay Contest Timeline

• The deadline for entering the contest is 11:59 PM in the student’s own time zone on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
• The students selected as winners will be notified by Monday, May 20, 2024.
• Students chosen as contest winners must return completed signature forms within 30 days of being notified that they have been chosen as winners in order to receive their monetary awards.
• Scholarship award checks will be mailed to the winners upon receipt of their completed signature forms.

For additional information or questions, please email [email protected] or call (916) 668-4160. Click on these links for a downloadable copy of the essay contest rules and/or for an essay contest flyer in PDF format.

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Related posts, announcing the winners of our 2023 national high school essay contest, our 2023 national high school essay contest is now closed to new entries – winners will be notified on or about may 15, announcing the winners of our 2022 national high school essay contest, announcing our 2022 national high school essay contest, announcing the opening of our 2022 national high school essay contest.

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Deadline: National High School Essay Contest

The deadline for this year's essay contest is 11:59 p.m. edt on april 3..

In 2024, the United States Foreign Service will celebrate its 100th birthday. The Foreign Service is an important element of the American approach to peacebuilding around the world. Over the last century, our diplomats have been involved in significant events in history – decisions on war and peace, reacting to natural disasters and pandemics, facilitating major treaties, and more.

As AFSA looks back on their century-long history, we invite you to do the same. This year students are asked to explore a topic that touches upon this important history and sheds light on how vital it is for America to have a robust professional corps focused on diplomacy, development, and peace in the national interest.

In your essay, you will select a country or region in which the United States Foreign Service has been involved at any point since 1924 and describe, in 1,500 words or less, how the Foreign Service was successful or unsuccessful in advancing American foreign policy goals – including promoting peace – in this country/region and propose ways in which it might continue to improve those goals in the coming years.

For more information on Essay Contest Rules and Guidance please visit this page . For additional resources click here .

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