Seniors Danielle Ho and Nadia Busekrus won in the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Voice of Democracy contest for their essays on “Why I’m Optimistic About our Nation’s Future.”

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) “strives to do good things for deserving people; particularly veterans, their families, and their communities,” according to www.vfw.org. Formed in 1899 and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW is the largest American organization of combat veterans.

Students in grades nine to 12 from public, private, parochial and home schools were eligible to enter the contest.

Ho and Busekrus made voice recordings of the essays to submit them to the contest.

“This topic was one that I felt strongly about since many people don’t have hope for our nation’s future right now. I liked the challenge of trying to figure out for myself what it is that gives me hope for our future and then articulating that,” said Busekrus. “[In my essay] I talked about how I have hope in the strong values and principles our nation was founded on because I know that they endure to this day, no matter what.”

“My piece is heavily inspired by my time in AP U.S. History (APUSH). I wrote a lot about American history and all of the previous hardships from which we rebounded,” said Ho.

Busekrus and Ho received notice of their winnings on Dec. 2 during morning flag from Nick Young, representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“I just found out that morning, a few minutes before they announced it at flag. I was very excited as writing and speaking are two things that I greatly enjoy so I was glad to get to share that with others,” said Busekrus.

When asked if she imagined winning the contest and going to the state competition, Ho said, “Nope! I was just trying to apply for a lot of different scholarships to help with college. Winning money for my essay took me by surprise.”

Ho’s essay moves on to the next round to compete for a $30,000 scholarship in the state competition of the Voice of Democracy contest.