by Taylor Massey
Republic High School junior Lilly Hindman has been selected as a recipient of the Voice of Democracy Scholarship Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4593. As a result, her essay and audio submission for the scholarship will be reviewed at a state banquet this weekend.
The Voice of Democracy audio-essay program is an annual competition hosted by the VFW for high school students. High schoolers from across the country are invited to participate first at their local VFW post, and local recipients of the scholarship are able to move on to compete at the state and national levels. Almost 25,000 students participate, and the national first place winner of the contest receives a scholarship of $35,000.
To enter the contest, Hindman wrote an essay on a topic selected by the program. This year, the topic was “Why is the veteran important?” Hindman wrote her piece and soon after had to complete an audio recording of her reading her essay. Hindman turned in this recording to the Republic, Missouri, VFW Post, where it was assessed in comparison to other essays written by local students.
Hindman received a letter afterward telling her she had made it to the state level. Here, her recording will go up against the winning submissions from across Missouri. The winners of the state competition will be announced at a black-tie banquet in St. Louis this weekend. However, the banquet is one of many exciting events planned for the winners.
“They have a whole day of activities planned out for the district winners,” Hindman said. “Some activities will include going to The Gateway Arch as well as museums.”
Hindman was also given the opportunity to meet with local veterans after she received notice she had won the local scholarship. This allowed her to see her essay’s meaning on a deeper level than she had when she initially wrote it.
“I learned how sweet veterans truly are,” Hindman said. “I went to a luncheon at a VFW post in Springfield and everyone was so nice. They were so excited and happy for me. It was really nice to have the support of everyone there.”
Hindman will find out if she is a state winner this weekend on Saturday, January 28.