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Each year, thousands of high school students submit essays to the Ayn Rand Institute's annual essays competitions, which this year awarded $81,250 in prize money. Alex Wallace, high school junior from Smyrna, Georgia, who attends Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta, was named a finalist in the 12th annual "Anthem" essay contest.
Open to high school freshmen and sophomores, the "Anthem" essay contest requires contestant to write on one of several topics dealing with the characters and themes in the novel. The contest is designed to promote critical thinking and writing skills. Essays are judged on both style and content. Judges look for writing that is clear, articulate, and logically organized. Winning essays demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of the novel. Alex wrote about the significance of the opening line to the story and to the meaning of the novel.
First published in 1938, "Anthem" depicts a dictatorship in a future in which the word "I" has vanished, and the story of a lone dissident who discovers the lost word's spiritual meaning.
Since 1985, more than 140,000 high school students from around the world have entered the ARI essay contests. For the 2007 competition, more than 14,000 students submitted essays for the "Anthem" contest, from which only the top 61 were selected as finalists.
The essay competition also has categories for high school juniors and seniors, as well as college students.
Information on the 2008 essay competitions is available here.
2008 postmark deadlines for entering are...
- 9th-10 graders: March 20, 2008(on "Anthem")
- 11th-12th graders: April 25, 2008 (on "The Fountainhead")
- College (students graduating high school in 2008 are eligible): Sept 17, 2008 (on "Atlas Shrugged")
Congratulations to Alex, who is not only a gifted writer, but is also a dedicated community volunteer. Fluent in Spanish, he is a volunteer translator and elementary school language tutor. He conducts weekly English lessons for Hispanic children at a local county shelter devoted to helping homeless mothers and their children. He received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Mayor of Smyrna, Georgia, for his dedication to continuing community service projects involving student translators.