CLS Alumni Essay Contest

All Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) alumni have a story to tell about the impact of the CLS Program. Take this opportunity to share your CLS story about one of the following topics: (1) how your participation in the CLS Program led to greater mutual understanding, (2) the value of learning a critical language, or (3) how you will utilize your critical language skills in your professional career.

DEADLINE:

May 1, 2012

GRAND PRIZE:

iPad

Honorable mentions will be published on the CLS website and will receive a CLS business card holder.

ELIGIBILITY:

Alumni who have successfully completed the CLS Program are eligible to participate.

The following individuals are not eligible: employees of the U.S. Department of State (not including part-time or temporary employees, interns, consultants, or contract employees unless such persons work on U.S. Department of State exchange programs) and employees of CAORC and American Councils who work on the CLS Program (excluding interns).

TOPIC:

Please write an essay that addresses one of the topics below:

1. The mission of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is to foster mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Discuss how your understanding of your host country changed as a result of your participation in the CLS Program, and/or how you helped the people of your host country better understand the United States.
2. Why would you recommend that students in your field of study learn a critical language?
3. How do you currently use your target language in your career and/or how do you intend to do so in the future?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

• Essays should be approximately 500 words in length.
• Applicants are highly encouraged to submit photos and/or videos to accompany their essays. Photos or videos that directly relate to the theme of the essay are preferred, but photos of the author during the CLS Program are also welcome.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

• Essay contest entries should be submitted using the application form on the ExchangesConnect website. To access the application, follow the link here.
• To submit photos to accompany your essay, upload them to your ExchangesConnect photo album and include a link in your application form. Instructions for uploading photos can be found in the application form.
• To submit a video to accompany your essay, upload the video to an online share site such as YouTube or Vimeo and include a link to your video in the application form.

CONTEST RULES:

• Alumni may submit more than one essay.
• Submissions must be the original work of the CLS alumnus/alumna submitting the application.
• You may not modify, alter, or retract a contest entry after submitting it unless a CLS staff member requests that you do so.
• CLS Program staff may request that edits or changes to your essay prior to publishing. Grand prize or honorable mention prize awards may be contingent on making edits to your essay.
• The U.S. Department of State, CAORC, and American Councils reserve the right to disqualify any submission that does not meet the requirements outlined in the contest guidelines or is deemed inappropriate.
• By submitting an entry, you agree that the U.S. Department of State, CAORC, and American Councils have permission to use your contest submission (essay, photos, and/or video) in promotional materials, presentations, and other venues related to the CLS Program or other U.S. Department of State programs.
• By submitting an entry, you assume sole responsibility for the material contained in the entry and the consequences of submitting it.

SELECTION:

Entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

• RELEVANCE – Is the submission related to one of the contest topics?
• PRESENTATION – Is the submission clearly written? Does it use language in a competent and compelling manner?
• CREATIVITY – Are the ideas in the submission original and innovative? Is the submission interesting to read?
• OVERALL IMPRESSION – Is the submission thought-provoking? Does it leave a lasting impression on the reader?

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply for the CLS Alumni Essay Contest, please visit the CLS community on ExchangesConnect at: http://connect.state.gov/group/cls/page/cls-alumni-essay-contest-2012. A complete list of eligibility requirements and contest guidelines can be found on the CLS ExchangesConnect page.

Please contact us if you have any questions at the email addresses below. We look forward to reading about your CLS experience!

• CLS 2010 and 2011 Azerbaijani, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Korean, and Turkish alumni: Stephanie Clough, sclough@americancouncils.org
• All CLS 2006-2009 alumni, and CLS 2010 and 2011 Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, and Urdu alumni: Malaika Serrano, serrano.malaika@caorc.org

Alumni Development Fund

The CLS Alumni Development Fund was launched in 2011 and thus far, has provided over 200 CLS alumni with opportunities to continue studying their CLS target language. Pending funding, the CLS Program hopes to open the next Alumni Development Fund cycle in Fall 2012.

Information about the Alumni Development Fund:

The Alumni Development Fund provides a limited number of small grants to CLS alumni to assist with continued language learning and/or professional or academic development. Individual applicants may apply for grants up to $500; groups may be eligible for larger amounts based on size and type of activity. Preference is given to applicants who are recent alumni and those who have never received an Alumni Development Fund grant before.

Applicants are expected to submit proposals which will have a wider impact on others (e.g. fellow students, CLS alumni, greater community).

Alumni Development Fund Frequently Asked Questions

Click on a question to show/hide the answer

View examples of Alumni Development Fund projects.

CLS Alumni Ambassadors

Each year, the CLS Program selects 15-20 outstanding alumni to serve as CLS Alumni Ambassadors. Alumni Ambassadors may host CLS promotional activities, post information on online forums, and speak on alumni panels in Washington, DC. In addition, they have an opportunity to shape the future of CLS alumni programming by offering suggestions and ideas.

Typical activities of an Alumni Ambassador may include:

• General CLS and/or county-specific presentations
• Participating in online forums (e.g. ExchangesConnect, StateAlumni, Facebook)
• Providing prospective CLS students with information about their experience
• Responding to questions from future CLS participants on an as-needed basis
• Speaking on an alumni panel at a CLS pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C.

Click here to view CLS 2011 Alumni Ambassador Profiles.

2011 CLS Photo and Video Contest

The CLS Program would like to congratulate Rene Orth ('11 Shanghai, China) for her winning entry in the CLS Photo & Video contest! Rene's winning video entry can be viewed on the CLS blog.

Even though the 2011 contest is over, we're always looking for great photos and videos of your CLS Program experience! If you have photos you would like to share, please email the CLS Program: cls@caorc.org.