International Essay Competition

How To Prepare For An International Essay Competition

An international essay competition is held for several reasons. Most competitions are conducted to bring awareness among students towards issues that concern the global society. Students who are well versed in communication essay writing are inspired by the organizing institution’s principles and take part in such competitions. They like to be associated with like-minded people. Such competitions allow them to express themselves with freedom not allowed in academic assignments. Students are also encouraged with generous cash prizes. Winners are invited to international award functions. The contests are usually held annually, and some popular essay contests draw entrants from across the globe. One of the popular ones is the World Bank Essay Competition.

Most essay contests have guidelines that participants need to be aware of. Some of the common guidelines have been listed below.

1.       The dates for submission and results are published every year. Participants need to check the organizer’s website and check out the published dates. If the submission is made online, there is a cut-off time limit. For example, the Fountainhead essay contest has specified the last date for submission to be April 26, 2010 at 11:59 PM, Pacific Standard Time.

2.       Generally, an international competition is organized to encourage the youth, and topics are often part of their school curriculum. The 11th and 12th graders are mature enough to have honed their ISB essay-writing skills and would like to participate in an international competition that gives them the opportunity to be part of an international community of like-minded students.

3.       The competition would not always be based on academic subjects. It could be based on literary bestsellers like The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. In fact, an association called the Ayn Rand Institute has been formed to encourage students to take part in literary research and follow the philosophy demonstrated in the book. An essay of global warming is another important essay topic. Such topics that concern the welfare of mankind form the center of attention at such competitions. For example, the topic chosen for International Essay Competition 2010 organized by the World Bank is “Youth Unemployment.”

4.       Students should prepare separately for each competition they plan to enter. Some competitions stress on the literary aspect of essay writing and proofreading while others look for student awareness on the topic. It is easy to understand the direction a contest would take. For example, the World Bank asks participants to write on topics that concern a large section of the world population. It could be a problem that is associated with the youth or some other major issue students could identify with. The topics are general enough for the vast majority to take part, but other contests could be based on particular interests. A marketing student would not want to participate in a history essay.

5.       Online entry forms are often not very flexible. Students must be able to fill in the entry accurately. The guidelines must be read more than once to understand them completely. Once the entry is sent, there is no way of making corrections or revising the entry. An international essay competition can be rewarding both monetarily and through the work being published in international magazines and relevant online websites.