Beaming as she accepted the seal envelope containing her achievements on Monday, April 29, junior Connie Li’s work had finally paid off as her essay won first place in the First Freedom Student Competition.
The First Freedom Student Competition is a national essay and video contest offered to ninth through 12th grades, which covers topics such as religious freedom, the First Amendment, and the relevance of freedom in today’s society.
Out of 1,842 students who come from America to Kenya to Naples, Connie placed first and won a $2,500 cash prize. This year’s prompt was to examine a letter George Washington wrote to a leader of a Jewish congregation in Rhode Island in 1790.
Connie first gained interest in the competition after seeing a link posted on the HHMS bulletin board.
“I’d never before seen an essay competition centered around history, specifically religious freedom, which also happens to be a topic I’ve developed strong ideas about,” she said.
When asked why she chose this topic, Connie stated that due to recent news such as the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin, she felt that a majority of people are ignorant about the topic of civil rights in general.
“I’m lucky to have been born and raised in an accepting environment, but I know there are so many other in this country who don’t have the same sort of security,” she said.
Connie expressed gratitude for history teacher Damon Halback, who helped her “outline main points, explore different directions, and clarify existing ideas.” Halback was also the one who presented Connie with her award during school meeting on Monday.
“I would be lying if I said I would’ve won without him,” Connie said.
In her essay, Connie concluded that Washington’s wording implied “religious freedom was not a privilege to be granted, but a right not to be denied,” which related to how she felt about expression in modern society today.
“No one can justifiably say they have the right to deny others their right to hold any religious belief, especially if it’s just because it’s unfamiliar or different. Ignorance is so simple and can be so easily corrected, yet today it still causes tragedies like the Oak Creek shooting,” she said.
Connie’s essay has been released on the First Freedom website and can be read here.