ENTER A COMPETITION

We have a responsibility to inspire the next generation of true patriots, to enthrall America’s youth and incite them to civic action. Our high school essay contest with a $25,000 scholarship prize is created to engage students across the nation.

National Essay Contest Rules & Details

We wrote The True Patriot to spur national conversations about the values and principles that ought to guide our politics — and to inspire civic action consistent with those values. We believe that true patriotism is an inheritance derived from the progressive ideals of our nation's founders, and we believe we have an obligation to pass that inheritance on to the next generation.

To help create this legacy, we are launching a national high school essay contest on the question, "What does true patriotism mean to you?" The prize for the winning essay will be a $25,000 college scholarship. This one-time contest will conclude January 2009 and the winner will be announced prior to the inauguration of the next President.

Our hope is that this scholarship will encourage not only students around the country to engage on these issues, but also the parents, teachers, neighbors and mentors of those students.

Here are the guidelines:

• What: Write an essay of no more than 1500 words that answers the question, "What does true patriotism mean to you?" We are not looking for essays that simply mimic our own writings, but we welcome better articulations of the points we sought to make.
• Who: Any high school student in the United States may participate. Finalists will be recognized and one winner will be selected.
• When: Submissions will be received starting February 1, 2008 and ending September 1, 2008. A distinguished national panel of judges will select finalists and the winner. The winner will be announced in January 2009.

Please Prepare essays in MS Word. Text should be 12 point type, double spaced. Be sure to include your name, essay title and contact information (email preferred) on the top of every page of your essay.

Submission:

The submission period for this contest has ended. 

Email submissions: Submissions that were sent to the wrong email address or did not follow the formatting rules (above) were not accepted. Questions about the contest will not be answered now that the submission period is closed. Inquiries about whether we received your essay will not be answered. 

Regular mail submissions: If you submitted an essay by regular mail (postmarked on or before September 2, 2008), you will receive email confirmation by October 15, 2008. If you provided a mailing address but not an email address, you will receive confirmation by November 1. Submissions that were not postmarked on or before September 2, 2008 will not receive any response. Inquiries about whether we received your essay will not be answered.

By submitting your essay you grant The True Patriot Network permission to publish the essay in print or on the internet in any form.