Photo courtesy of Greta Chen.
greta chen
Greta Chen, a junior at Vestavia Hills High School, was selected as the state winner of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy scholarship competition.
At the end of this month, Vestavia Hills High School junior Greta Chen will be traveling to Washington, D.C. She is representing Alabama as the state winner of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Voice of Democracy scholarship competition, and she’s hoping to win one of the national scholarships.
According to the VFW website, over 40,000 high school students apply each year for the Voice of Democracy. Greta was chosen as one of 50 state winners across the nation despite only finding out about the competition a few days before its due date.
“It was like one night I just sat down and started writing the essay and it all came out in one sitting,” Greta said.
As a member of the VHHS social studies honor society, Rho Kappa, Greta said the Voice of Democracy competition immediately interested her. She created a video reading her essay on the competition topic, “My Vision for America.” Greta said she wrote about the United States’ basis in values of liberty, opportunity and equality, and how to uphold those ideals going forward.
“We have to meet those burdens that we place on ourselves,” she said.
Greta found out in mid-January that she is Alabama’s state winner, giving her a $1,000 scholarship and an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. from Feb. 27 to March 2. While there, Greta will tour the city and find out if she wins one of the national scholarships. The first place national prize is a $30,000 scholarship to any college, university or technical school.
Since she recently learned about Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency in her history class, Greta especially wants to see his memorial while she’s there, as well as the Capitol building.
“I was just really excited and a little nervous [to find out I won]. It doesn’t seem real that I’ll be going to D.C. with other teens from other states,” Greta said.
In addition to her membership in Rho Kappa, Greta is also a member of the debate and math teams, plays piano and enjoys writing and drawing.
