Ben Franklin Fellowship 2012

The United States Embassy Announces An Essay and Public Speaking Competition for High School Students:

“The Significance of Transatlantic Cooperation in Today’s World”

Eligibility Requirements

Participants should:

1. Be high school students in the 10^th or 11^th grades
2. Demonstrate a commitment to community and extracurricular activities
3. Have very good command of the English language
4. Demonstrate high level of academic achievement, as indicated by academic grades, awards, and teacher recommendations
5. Have some public speaking skills

February 6                 Competition opens 

February 28               Deadline for submission of student essays and personal statements to usemb-essaycompetition@state.gov

March 6                      Committee reviews applications and selects ten semifinalists

March 9                      Semifinalists are notified of their status

March 21 - 23                        Semifinalists make a public speaking presentation; three

finalists are selected

The winner of the competition will be nominated to participate in the Benjamin Franklin Fellowship Program held at Wake Forest University in the United States. 

Guidelines

• Personal statement

The purpose of the personal statement is for you to describe your educational and extracurricular interests.  The personal statement should also demonstrate a strong potential for leadership and an interest in communications, advocacy, debate, or civic participation.  It should be:  

• No more than two pages long
• Times New Roman 12 point font
• Single spaced

Please include your contact information:  

• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Place of Birth
• Full Home Address
• Home Phone Number and Cell Phone
• E-Mail Address
• School Name and Address
• City/Town 
• The Essay

“The Significance of Transatlantic Cooperation in Today’s World”

should be two to three pages long, Times New Roman 12 point font, single spaced.

The essay and personal statement must be submitted by e-mail (as attachments) to usemb-essaycompetition@state.gov no later than February 28, 2012. 

Important Note: Essays and personal statements that do not comply with the above requirements will not be eligible to compete in the competition.