Romanian American National Heritage Awards, 5th edition - 2021

The Romanian American National Heritage Award is an annual competition for youth with Romanian heritage or background. Applicants of non-Romanian descent may qualify, as long as their work and experience relate to Romania or the Romanian community in the US.

The jury representing the three organizations involved based their decision on the national and international impact of the volunteering activity described, the candidate's academic achievements and leadership potential and tracked record, as well as their future vision for the benefit of the Romanian community, locally and beyond.

Congratulations to the Winners of This Year's Edition :

• Platinum, National - Andreea Haidău ( Wheeling High School, IL)

• Platinum, West Coast - Victor Ene ( Sunset High School, OR)

• Platinum, East Coast - Daniel Niculescu ( Cranbrook Schools, MI)

• Gold, West Coast - Larisa Sâmbotin (Skyline High School, WA)

- Alex Iliescu (Interlake High School, WA)

- Tamara Toma (Homestead High School, CA) & Ilinca Flăcău (Leland High School, CA)

• Gold, East Coast - Stefan Julian Cordaș ( Trumbull High School, CT)

• Silver, Central - Andreas Miclea (Northside College Preparatory High School, IL) , Fevzy Ghiuve-Osman (Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, IL), Gruia Radu ( New Trier Township High-School, IL)

- David Burcă (Sconzo Early College High School, TX)

Presented by the American Romanian Cultural Society , Alianta and Romanian United Fund, with the endorsement of the Embassy of Romania to the United States

Community Partners (please let us know if you would like to join us as a community partner):

Romanian Cultural Institure USA/New York

Românul Corp

HORA-Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans in Minnesota

Mission and Purpose

The award recognizes exceptional contributions to the cohesion of the Romanian community and the preservation of its heritage, language, culture and traditions.

Recognition and Awards

All eligible participants will receive the official recognition of the Romanian Embassy in United States and the top winners will receive scholarships of up to $500 dollars each.

The award has helped the recipients distinguish themselves in their admission process to top colleges and institutions, such as Dartmouth College, Wesleyan Univ, Pitzer College, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Whitman College, Purdue Univ, UW Honors, and many others.

Timeline

June 30 - Submission of Applications Opens

September 30 - Submission of Applications Closes

October 15 - Winners Announced

November 18 - Award Ceremony at the Alianța Gala in Washington DC

Application

Please submit your application HERE

Eligibility for participation
Age and residence: For the 2021 edition, participants must be enrolled in High School in United States for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Academic: Minimum unweighted High School GPA of 3.0 – or equivalent, running average for the last school year.

Team work: Both individuals and teams can participate in the competition. Participation in teams is encouraged. To encourage leadership and simplify the evaluation process, the maximum team size is 5.

There are no Romanian or US citizenship requirements. There are no fees required, this competition is entirely free to participate for eligible students.

Eligibility for national participants
The top 5 winners of the regional competitions advance to the national competition

Evaluation criteria

The following criteria will be used in the evaluation process (not all criteria are required, but they will strengthen your application):

1) Community work and leadership
The number of volunteering hours and their visible outcome and results will be a strong factor in the evaluation. Where applicable and possible, volunteering and community work in Romania (e.g. groundbreaking projects with children, youth and seniors from underprivileged social backgrounds, or religious and ethnic minorities) will receive the jury's highest consideration. Please highlight this aspect in your application.

Please provide a detailed description of your working experience, highlighting the ways in which your activity and leadership initiatives impacted the targeted community, strengthening its civic spirit and sense of unity, bringing awareness to the role of the Romanian language and traditions in shaping the Romanian American identity and legacy in the US. The description should be either in Romanian or in English, and should not exceed 650 words.

2) Essay
Please submit an essay that will describe how your community work influenced your own personal growth and brought awarness to your bicultural and bilingual identity in the US. We strongly encourage applicants to model their essay from their college application essays, following a similar structure and attention to detail. The essay shall have no less than 200 words and no more than 650 words.

3) Recommendations from local community leaders
Your essay and recommendations will play an important role in the evaluation process. A formal letter is not required, a name and contact info (email and/or phone number) will be sufficient. The contest organizers will reach out to confirm the recommendations.

Romanian Heritage Connection
Applicants of any cultural backgrounds may qualify, as long as they are able to prove their interest, work experience and connection to Romania.
Examples of such proof: