The Foreign Service Journal, October 2019

60 OCTOBER 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Announces National High School Essay Contest Winners The American Foreign Service Association is pleased to announce that Wilson King, a senior at Shepaug Valley School in Washington, Connecticut, is the winner of its 2019 AFSA National High School Essay Contest. His essay was cho- sen from a pool of nearly 700 submissions from 41 states and five countries. In the essay, “From Dictatorship to Democracy,”Wilson King focuses on the importance of interagency cooperation in military interventions—primarily looking into the impact of American intervention against the Noriega regime in Panama in 1989 and in Somalia three years later. In recognition of his achievement and hard work, Wilson received a $2,500 cash prize, a fully paid Semester at Sea educational voyage (for when he’s in college) and a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan. While in Washington, he was also honored at a reception at the United States Institute of Peace. Collin Wang was this year’s runner-up. He is a senior at Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan. The runner-up prize is enrollment in the international diplomacy program of the National Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Collin attended this past summer. There were 17 honorable mentions: Wilson King (left), winner of the 2019 AFSA National High School Essay Contest, receives a plaque from Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan. • Albert Zhang – Gainesville, Florida • Emma Alexander – Sugar Hill, Georgia • Vivian Sandifer – Huntington, West Virginia • Annalia Lynch – St. Simon’s Island, Georgia • Will Martin – Little Rock, Arkansas • Cynthia Langkamp – Spring, Texas • Vibhav Kanyadan – Marietta, Georgia • Owen Young – Kittanning, Pennsylvania • Madelyn Cramer – Elk River, Minnesota • Ian Curry – Makati City, Philippines • Catherine George – Indianapolis, Indiana • Ingrid Dornbirer – Marengo, Ohio • Ainsley Anderson Fawcett – Sonoma, California • David Jordan – Fort Collins, Colorado • Sakshi Kolli – Milpitas, California • Dillon Bantatua – Anaheim, California • Malaina Kapoor – Redwood City, California AFSA thanks all the students who took the time to do research and writing and become globally engaged citizens who care about diplomacy and development, as well as the teachers who guided and supported them. This year’s contest was made possible through the sup- port of AFSA’s partners, the United States Institute of Peace, Semester at Sea and the National Student Leadership Con- ference . You can read the winning essay at www.afsa.org/essay. For Journal readers, please share information about the essay contest with the (non-Foreign Service) high school- ers you know and encourage them to consider submitting an essay for next year’s contest. The new prompt can be found on the AFSA website essay contest page. n SHEPAUGVALLEYSCHOOL The Foreign Service Journal Welcomes New Advertising Manager AFSA is pleased to welcome Molly Long to The Foreign Service Journal and the AFSA publications team as manager of advertising, circulation and business development. Molly comes to us from the Door and Hardware Institute, where she managed advertising for the associa- tion’s monthly publication, Door Security & Safety , including all digital oppor- tunities, for nearly 17 years. Before DHI, she sold for a variety of other publications, mostly in the travel category. Molly lives with her husband and two daughters in Virginia, where they have resided for more than 20 years. Her husband owns a venture capital and business consulting firm. One daugh- ter is in her senior year of college, and the other is tak- ing a gap year to pursue her love of travel and adventure before starting a career. Molly, who earned a bach- elor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, enjoys hot yoga, gardening and walk- ing her dog. She grew up in the suburbs of New York City. She can be reached at long@afsa.org or (202) 719- 9706. n