The Foreign Service Journal, November 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2013 55 AFSA NEWS Secretary of State John Kerry with 2013 High School Essay Contest winner Kailee Pedersen. PHOTOBYDEPARTMENTOFSTATE AFSAAnnounces 2014 National High School Essay Contest: How Did Diplomacy Matter? In 2014, the United States Foreign Service and AFSA both celebrate their 90th anniversaries. To honor the occasion, AFSA’s National High School Essay Contest is taking a new approach. Students are asked to select one foreign policy issue from the last 90 years where diplomacy played a decisive role. The writer must identify the event or issue; outline the steps the Foreign Service took to address it; and explain why diplomacy mattered then and today. The essay contest is open to high school students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service. The goals of the contest are to raise the profile of the Foreign Service, identify outstanding stu- dents, build a constituency for diplomacy and promote the Service as a career choice. The winner of AFSA’s National High School Essay contest winner will receive $2,500, an invitation to travel with their parents to Washington, D.C., to meet the Secretary of State and a 100-day “Semester at Sea” educational voyage around the world. The Institute for Ship- board Education’s “Semester at Sea” academic program (celebrating its 50th year), is sponsored by the Univer- BY PERRI GREEN, AFSA SPECIAL AWARDS AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR sity of Virginia. College-level courses aboard the M.V. Explorer are enhanced by in-port field studies. To learn more about this exceptional program, please go to www. semesteratsea.org. The National Student Leadership Conference provides the runner-up with a full scholarship to participate in their international diplo- macy program. The NSLC offers students the oppor- tunity to experience life on a college campus and explore future career opportunities. For more information about upcoming programs, please visit www.nslcleaders.org. AFSA is grateful to our sponsors, the Institute for Shipboard Education and the National Student Leadership Conference, for their gener- osity in providing the first- place and runner-up prizes. Essays will be accepted through March 15, 2014. The essay winner will be announced in early summer. Please note that children of Foreign Service employees are ineligible. For more information, please go to www.afsa.org/ essaycontest or contact Perri Green at green@afsa.org or (202) 719-9700. n Deputy Secretary of State Burns Visits AFSA On Sept. 4, Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns (left) attended a breakfast meeting with AFSA’s Governing Board at the association’s headquarters. A full range of issues affecting the Department of State and the Foreign Service were discussed. At the conclusion of the meeting, AFSA President Robert J. Silverman presented Burns, a lifetime AFSA member, with a plaque in recognition of his dedication to and leadership of the Foreign Service of the United States. n PHOTOBYBYÁSGEIRSIGFÚSSON