Updated on May 21: Junior Achievement of Greater Washington has announced that Washington-Lee High School senior Fariha Bablu was selected as the third place winner in Virginia for the 2017 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. She will be awarded a $10,000 college scholarship.

The topic for the 2017 Junior Achievement Essay Competition was: “Several great entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out of college before getting their degrees. How important do you think a college education is to your future success?” Over 1,100 students across the region submitted essays this year. The essays were judged based on the following criteria: Creativity & originality; persuasiveness; grammar & spelling; understanding of subject matter; and relevancy of response to topic question.

The Junior Achievement Essay Competition, sponsored by David M. Rubenstein, was founded in 2008. Each year, high school students in Greater Washington are invited to write an essay and compete for over $110,000 in college scholarships. Through Mr. Rubenstein’s generous financial commitment, 2015 marked over $1 million in support of the Junior Achievement Essay competition.

A first, second, and third place winner is selected from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia and awarded a $10,000 scholarship. One grand prize winner is selected from all applicants to receive a $20,000 scholarship. In addition, from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the school with the greatest number of eligible applications receives a $6,000 grant.

All winning students will be recognized by Junior Achievement and Mr. Rubenstein at a private awards ceremony.

About Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
Since 1965, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington has inspired the next generation to be financially capable and tenacious, equipped with the tools to solve problems creatively, manage risk effectively, and welcome opportunity. Through experiential financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship K-12 programs and capstone experiences taught by volunteer role models from the community, they inspire the next generation to answer the demands of the 21st century economy with “I can.” During the 2016-2017 school year alone, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington delivered its programs to more than 65,000 K-12 students throughout the region. In the last 50 years, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington has impacted the lives of more than 800,000 young people in the District, Maryland and Virginia.