2006 Diversity Essay Competition Results

The Sikh Coalition is proud to announce the winners of the Diversity Essay Competition for the year 2006. Close to 1700 submissions were submitted from 30 Countries in the Second Annual Sikh Coalition Diversity Essay Competition

Partial Map of Essay Entries - Click to View the Live Interactive Map

The Sikh Coalition Diversity Essay Competition helps students, teachers, parents and entire communities engage in a dialogue about issues affecting our everyday lives. It provides an opportunity to learn about various religions, ethnicities, communities and celebrate the rich diversity of opinion that exists in our world.

Through these types of educational initiatives the Sikh Coalition hopes to promote cultural understanding and build bridges across communities. The intention is to ask young men and women to think about how can they influence the lives of those around them.

We have been amazed by the response that we recieved this year. We would like to thank all of those individuals essays and the thousands of people that supported and encouraged them. and thank all of you for your submission. Reading the essays was an enriching experience for all of us and the judges.

This year we invited young people of all backgrounds to share their views on the following topic:

Racial, ethnic or religious profiling makes the world more secure.

Please argue for or against this position. You may interview or contact individuals of different backgrounds who have been profiled and/or law enforcement agencies who may endorse profiling at times to gain information to support your position.

Final Awards As always, judging such excellent essays that provided such a diversity of view points was an onerous task for the judges. It was not just about the number of essays but also what the young people shared from their lives and from the lives of those around them. The judges have awarded special awards besides the first three submissions to recognize those who were no less deserving. The winners of the Sikh Coalition's 2006 Diversity Essay Competition are: First Place ($1,000)   Nick Robillard attended school in the Central Kitsap District in Silverdale, Washington and will be attending the University of Puget Sound, where he will study Philosophy and International Political Economy. Nick has been very active on the debate team at Central Kitsap High School. Nick attended debate camp at the University of North Texas and was captain of his high school debate team. Nick has always been interested in politics and reads widely to keep up on current events. Nick was selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy in Washington DC in 2006. He has trained as a youth mediator for Kitsap County and has been involved with helping at the local homeless shelter. Nicholas Robillard (Silverdale, WA, USA) Read Essay Second Place ($500)   Karim Hassanein is an active member of his school community. He been writing creatively for many years, and have only recently started to write essays and opinion pieces, as well as informative pieces aimed at his fellow students He is 17 years old, and his hobbies include sculpture, painting and drawing. He is involved in acting and is currently taking performance classes which give him an opportunity to perform around his communtiy. He also composes music and is interested in entering the field of landscape architecture. Karim has lived in Mali, Madagascar, Egypt, England and California, and has learnt to respect and appreciate diverse viewpoints. In the future, he hopes to use his creative talents to promote respect and peace between cultures and countries. Karim A. Hassanein (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA) Read Essay Third Place ($250)   Born and raised in rural southern Virginia, Issac's cultural experience has been somewhat different from those of most of his neighbors. He attended a Muslim school until the ninth grade, and then transferred to public high school. His experiences ingrained deeply in his mind the importance of open-mindedness and cultural dialogue. Attending a larger public high school allowed him to encounter people from different backgrounds and ideologies, further confirming my belief in acceptance and dialogue. In order to pursue my interest in dialogue, he plans to begin study in journalism at Lynchburg College in the fall. Issac Podyma (Bedford, VA, USA) Read Essay Special recognition prizes of $50 have been awarded to the following:     Katie Schmidt is 17 years old and lives on a tiny island in northwest Washington called Shaw. She has been fortunate to live in a small, friendly, tight-knit community which has provided her with a unique and very pleasant childhood shared with lots of friends. She loves to travel, sail, hike, bike, and read. She also loves art and just generally being outside. She hopes to go on exchange to Ecuador to experience a new place with very distinct culture and learn a new language. Katie Schmidt (Shaw Island, WA, USA) Read Essay     Benjamin Landau-Beispiel was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. As a graduate of Masterman High School, a Philadelphia public high school, Ben has consistently worked tirelessly for the Philadelphia Student Union, a major voice for young people and an important player in the struggle to transform Philadelphia’s public schools. Ben has organized a wide range of political workshops for young people dealing with topics of race and class and against militarism and war. Ben is presently traveling with a Guatemalan friend through Guatemala and Mexico. He will be attending Harvard University in September, 2006. Benjamin Landau-Beispiel (Philadelphia, PA, USA) Read Essay     Dani often volunteers at hospitals, at a nearby rest home and a rehabilitation center preparing and facilitating games and activities for the senior residents. She has also worked for Habitats for Humanity. Because of the involvement of her parents, she has been active in community projects such as cleaning the beach at Santa Monica with “Heal the Bay.” She also volunteers for child care during the weekend retreats at her synagogue and finds most rewarding the time she spends building and delivering food baskets on a yearly basis to raise funds for the elderly and disconnected members of the community. Her parents have instilled in her the importance of giving back to the community. She dreams of working for tikkun olam (perfecting the world). Her affinity for senior citizens has become one of the primary motivating forces in her life. Danielle Drasin (Beverly Hills, CA, USA) Read Essay     Mary Yanik is currently a student at Emporia High School. She was born in Richmond, Virginia, but her family moved to Emporia, a rural town in Kansas, before she turned one. Both of her parents teach mathematics at Emporia State University. She is very involved in extracurricular activities at her school, serving as President of Student Council and Chair of a city-wide food drive. She also has a passion for social justice, fostered through her involvement in policy debate and Model United Nations. Mary Yanik (Emporia, KS, USA) Read Essay     Kelsey Hayes is a sophomore at the University of Kansas, studying Journalism and Political Science, focusing on magazine publishing and Western European politics. She is a member of the Honors Program and involved with campus media and political groups. She is studying at the University of Reading in England for the 2006-07 academic year. Kelsey Hayes (Lawrence, KS, USA) Read Essay     Dan Baker is 18 years old and a 2006 high school graduate from Fountain Hills, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. He is planning to attend Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California to work towards a degree in ministry, possibly with a focus on youth ministry. Daniel Baker (Fountain Hill, AZ, USA) Read Essay     Shawnbir Gogia was born and raised in Fair Oaks, California. In June 2006, he graduated from Bella Vista High School and will attend the University of California, Berkeley in the fall. He hopes to pursue a career in the field of medicine. Shawnbir Singh Gogia (Fair Oaks, CA, USA) Read Essay     Born in Moscow, Russia, Nicholas moved to America in 1993 at the age of five with his brother. This unique background has given him a profound appreciation for America’s vast opportunities; it is an appreciation that is at the core of both his academic and extracurricular endeavors. As a track team member, volunteer at the local zoo, class vice-president, and valedictorian, he constantly searches for excellence and involvement in the land of his parents’ dreams. In his spare time Nicholas reads everything from classical literature to modern science, and he loves to write and express my opinion. He is also very active in basketball, running, cycling and hiking. In the fall he will enroll in Harvard University to pursue studies in physics. Nicholas Reshetnikov (Melbourne, FL, USA) Read Essay     Samantha Rene Johnson (North Chicago, IL, USA)     Dildeep Brar (Ottawa, ON, Canada)     Tanisia Morris (Bronx, NY, USA) We congratulate all the prize winners. We greatly appreciate all the participants submitted their essays in this competition and encourage them to apply for the next year'd competition. We also wish to thank the judges who have spent countless days in tirelessly reviewing and evaluating the essays. With the help of parents and teachers, we hope to keep young men and women of this world engaged in the issues that confront our civilization. Please feel free to send your comments and suggestions to essay@sikhcoalition.org The contest for 2007 will be announced in November, 2006.