The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

78 MARCH 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Partners with American Diplomat Podcast AFSA is pleased to announce a new 2021 partnership that will help in our efforts to introduce new audiences to the Foreign Service. AFSA has stepped in as a financial supporter of the popular podcast “American Diplomat.” Hosted by Ambas - sador (ret.) Peter Romero and writer and director Laura Bennett, the podcast shares AFSA’s mission of generating public support for the U.S. Foreign Service and features American diplomats’ per- sonal narratives. The podcast releases new episodes weekly and enjoys a largely younger audience (age 25 to 44) in all 50 states and 156 countries. AFSA joins other partners in backing the podcast: The American Academy of Diplo- macy, Texas A&M University, the Nelson B. Delavan Foun- dation, the Luther I. Replogle Foundation and the Sisco Family Fund. AFSA will work with the American Diplomat team to regularly feature AFSA content, including interviews with authors published in recent issues of The Foreign Service Journal. We also want to feature other stories from members. We encourage both active- duty and retired members to consider sharing your stories that illustrate the work of the Foreign Service. If you have a good story and are interested in being a potential guest on the podcast, please let us know. Email Nadja Ruzica at ruzica@afsa.org. AFSA will bring each week’s new podcast episode to members via the daily media digest. Check out amdipstories.org to explore earlier episodes. n AFSA High School Essay Contest AFSA is now accepting appli- cations for its national high school essay contest. The first prize winner is awarded $2,500. Eligibility: Students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through 12 in any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas. Students may be attend- ing a public, private or paro- chial school. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted. Previous first-place win- ners and immediate rela- tives of directors or staff of AFSA, the U.S. Institute of Peace, Semester at Sea and National Student Leadership Conference are not eligible to participate. Previous honor- able mention designees are eligible to enter. Prizes: $2,500 to the writer of the winning essay, in addition to an all-expense- paid trip to the nation’s capital from anywhere in the United States for the winning writer and his or her parents, and an all-expense-paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up receives $1,250 and a full tuition to attend a summer session of National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program. Due to COVID-19 some prizes may not be claimable immedi- ately. The application deadline is April 5, 2021. Learn more details about the essay contest, including the essay topic, at afsa.org/ essay-contest. n