海角大神

In high school, I had what I considered a fairly good sense of the big problems facing society.听

But if you had asked me how I might solve some of them, I would likely have stared at you blankly. I had been trained to critique the status quo, but rarely asked to think deeply about where to go from there.听

So my ears perked up when I heard about a new essay contest for teenagers. The prompt: What would you most like to improve about your own society, and how would you do it?

The competition is sponsored by , a nonprofit that connects Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans with the aim of 鈥渂ettering, not battering, these societies we love.鈥澛�

Submissions, due June 1, can take the form of essays, poems, or songs. Three winners from each society will earn $500, and their pieces will be published in The Jerusalem Post, Al-Quds, and 海角大神. Interested in entering, or know someone who might be? Get the details .听

鈥淲e鈥檙e bridging the gap between what needs to be done and what can be done,鈥� says Adina Siff, who suggested the contest as a Heart of a Nation intern last summer. Now, she is its youngest board member (and a recent Monitor contributor).听

Importantly, the contest will be judged by 12 teens, four from each society. These include Mohammed Abuzahra, a computer engineering student in the West Bank聽who believes聽in the 鈥渂utterfly effect.鈥澛犫�淓very word you say is meant for someone who will make something of it,鈥� he says.听Then there鈥檚 Nurit Eskar, who grew up on a kibbutz in southern Israel but says Arabic is one of her favorite classes, and Naomi Meyer,聽a high school senior and history lover from Maryland, who sees the contest as a chance to build bridges of empathy.

The judges are united by the conviction that progress takes place not in a silo, but shoulder to shoulder with people from 鈥渢he other side.鈥澛�

To those considering submitting, Nurit offers this encouragement: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just you, and you can only speak for yourself. It鈥檚 okay to just come as you are and write whatever you feel.鈥�

Looking back (OK, not that long ago), I might have been nudged out of my moderate disillusionment by that message. Maybe it鈥檒l propel today鈥檚 teens forward, too.