Just a few suggestions for you to look at before submitting your essay:

• Does your essay clearly demonstrate that you understand the role of the Foreign Service in carrying out American diplomacy?
• Is your essay written in English?
• Does the essay answer this year’s essay contest question?
• Have you given your essay a descriptive title?
• Is your essay at least 1,000 words and no more than 1,500 words long excluding works cited?
• Have you made sure that your name, school, or city do NOT appear anywhere in the essay?
• Have you scrupulously followed accepted standards regarding attribution of quotations, arguments, and ideas of others within the body of your paper and bibliography?
• Have you made sure that Wikipedia is not a source?
• Does your essay have standardized citations and bibliography?
• Does your essay have the required end notes, rather than footnotes?
• Are your online sources listed separately from other sources in your bibliography?
• Is your teacher's name and contact information included as detailed in the contest guidelines?

Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST, March 1, 2025