Matthew Long was perusing the aisles of his local library when he came across a copy of a book by Ayn Rand. He glanced at the back cover and a mention of ARI’s essay contest caught his attention. The idea of writing an essay about a novel seemed interesting to him, so he decided to give it a try. He never imagined that only a few months later his essay would win the first-place prize and with it $10,000 in cash.
In the case of Sophie Zhao, The Fountainhead essay contest winner, the third time’s the charm. In 2015, Zhao read the Ayn Rand novel for the third time before submitting an entry into this year’s essay contest and was thrilled to be named the winner.
Thanks to generous support from donors, ARI provides free copies of Ayn Rand’s works to teachers throughout the United States and Canada. Compared to the prior year, the 2014 – 15 school year marked a dramatic increase in books distributed. Nonfiction requests — including Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and Philosophy: Who Needs It — reached an all-time high.
ARI is giving away more than $67,000 in prize money to high school students who participate in its annual essay contests for Ayn Rand’s novels Anthem and The Fountainhead. This is your chance to take home cash to help pay for college, a new computer, tablet, gaming system or anything else you’ve been looking to buy. More than 400 students will be awarded cash prizes.
This week I had the chance to talk with Brittney Fay Rivera of The Undercurrent about a first-of-its kind, student-only conference. The Undercurrent conference focuses on Ayn Rand’s philosophy and its real world application. Listen in to the podcast to find out more about the event, which takes place October 11th and 12th at American University in Washington D.C. (P.S. There’s still time to sign-up.)
