The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 73 AFSA NEWS AFSA Honors 2021 Sinclaire Language Award Recipients Proficiency in foreign languages is a vital skill for members of the U.S. Foreign Service, not only for professional develop- ment but also for personal security and success at post. Each year since 1982, AFSA has recognized the outstand- ing accomplishments of FS members in the study and use of difficult languages through the MatildaW. Sinclaire Awards pro- gram. AFSA established this program upon a generous bequest from former Foreign Service Officer MatildaW. Sinclaire, who sought “to promote and reward superior achievement by career officers of the Foreign Service …while studying one of the Category III or IV languages under the auspices of the Foreign Service Institute.” Any career or career-conditional member of the Foreign Service from the Department of State, USAID, Foreign Com- mercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Agency for Global Media or Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is eligible for the award. Recipients are selected by a committee comprising the dean (or designee) of the FSI School of Language Studies and the AFSA Awards and Plaques Committee. Each winner receives $1,500 and a certificate of recognition. For 2021, AFSA received 19 nominations. This year’s recipients demonstrated dedication to and extraordinary skills in their chosen language through their engagement in a variety of in-language activities in and out of the classroom to improve fluency. We are pleased to announce the 2021 Sinclaire Award recipients: • Maria Davydenko : Arabic • Lindsay Coffey : Arabic MSA + Moroccan Variant • Kristin Foote : Korean • Sylvia Stankova-Loomis : Hebrew • Jarek Taylor Buss : Albanian • Hiram Rios Hernandez : Burmese • Matthew O’Connor : Korean • Ryan Peterson : Cambodian/Khmer • Benjamin James Turman : Urdu • Colette Clark : Farsi For more information on the Sinclaire Awards, contact AFSA Awards Coordinator Theo Horn at horn@afsa.org or visit afsa.org/sinclaire. Nominations for the 2022 Sinclaire Awards are now being accepted; the deadline is Aug. 31. n AFSA H.S. Essay Contest AFSA is now accepting appli- cations for its national high school essay contest. 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. 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. Prizes. $2,500 to the writer of the winning essay, and a trip to the nation’s capital for the winning writer and his or her parents, and an educational voyage cour- tesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up receives $1,250 and 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 4, 2022. Learn more at afsa.org/essay-contest. n Applications are now open for nearly $370,000 in college aid to children of AFSAmembers. Financial Aid. In 2022, AFSA will award $230,000 in need-based financial aid to incoming or current college undergraduates. Last year, 69 students were awarded scholarships ranging between $2,000 and $6,000. Merit Aid. In 2022, AFSA will award $152,000 in merit aid to high school seniors. Last year, 173 students applied and 38 received grants. Most scholarships amount to $3,500 and will be given in four categories: academic merit, art merit, community service and best essay. Due to difficulties surrounding COVID-19, AFSA will not require students to have taken either the SAT or ACT test. The AFSA Scholarship Program is made possible through generous donations from our partners at BlueCross BlueShield, DACOR and numerous donations from individuals. No AFSAmembership dues are used in the AFSA Scholarship Program. The application deadline is midnight on March 14, 2022. For full details, visit afsa.org/scholar. Apply for AFSACollege Scholarships