Saturday, August 4, 2007

Youth Essay Contest

And you thought genealogy and heritage research was for "old fogies"!

What a delight to read about this young lady from the Ukraine who won first place in the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) Youth Essay Contest (University level). 20-year-old Jenia Kramarenko is pursuing a degree in linguistics from Kiev National Aviation University. The essay about her grandmother is a touching blend of history, genealogy, and pride of heritage. It can be found in the "Youth Program" section of the GRHS web site.

And the winners and runners-up in the 2007 contest cover lots of geography! From Seoul, South Korea to Indianapolis, Indiana -- from Johannestal, Ukraine to Rapid City, South Dakota. Their hometowns and backgrounds are varied, but their essays share excellent writing and a love of a common heritage. Contest rules and an entry form for the 2008 Youth Essay Contest are available on-line.

German-Russians from across the country will celebrate that common heritage next summer at the 2008 International Germans from Russia heritage gathering in Casper, Wyoming. Winners of the 2008 essay contest will be recognized during the convention.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Direct link to the GRHS Youth Pages is http://members.rushmore.com/~grhsyouth/index.htm
and the 2008 Youth Essay
contest details can be found at http://members.rushmore.com/~grhsyouth/members.htm

Larry Miller said...

Murray: Thanks! I've made the link changes. I think the youth essay contest is a terrific project. It's certainly a way to help keep our heritage and encourage young people to keep in touch with "unsere Leute"!

Energetic Storyteller, Family Historian & Grebel Lover said...

Congratulations on a wonderful blog site. It is an outstanding way to communicate all of the details of the convention. I know I will be checking it frequently.