Sandy Spring Friends Student Wins Essay Contest

Sandy Spring Friends School junior Chungdhak Sherpa was awarded first prize in the Foreign Service Youth McGrath Essay Contest for her piece entitled “A Tibetan Youth Ambassador Comes to America.” In response to the topic question, which challenged U.S. Foreign Service youth to choose one issue or problem they would focus on to improve the life of youth in their current country of residence, Sherpa offers advice to American students based on lessons she has learned.

Sherpa left Tibet with her sister at the age of 13 and traveled first to India and then to Japan before moving to the United States in 2010, when her sister’s husband was transferred to the Washington area through his work with the State Department. Although she says she values the freedom and high-quality education she has gained in America, she misses her mother and brothers who still live in Tibet. She also places high importance on certain values and qualities that defined her life in Tibet, namely community, meaning, and compassion. In light of this, she proposes in her essay three special days for American students: a “National Student Neighbor Day,” to prompt students to develop a sense of community with their neighbors and discover ways in which they might help them, a “National Student Day of Meaning,” to encourage students to zero in on something in their life that truly gives them purpose, and a “National Student Day of Changing Places,” to allow students to experience a day in the life of someone who is suffering in order to foster the growth of empathy and compassion.

Sherpa, who is a peer counselor at Sandy Spring, was awarded a $750 prize, which she plans to send to her mother in Tibet. She will be honored at the 2011 Youth Awards Ceremony at the State Department on July 15.