Contest

Submission Guidelines

Applicants must be students in one of these two age groups and live in Southern California:
- 12-15 (age at time of submission)
- 16-18 (age at time of submission)
Submissions must include student’s contact information and parent/guardian information.
Only one entry is allowed per student. If you have previously submitted an essay, please do not submit the same essay across multiple years. By submitting, you are agreeing that you are submitting your own work, not written by anyone else or by artificial intelligence.
Parental/Guardian/Student Consent Form is required for all students under the age of 18 to enter the contest. Students who are 18 years old can fill out the consent form themselves.
Student photos, interest in any of our other projects, or availability to come to the awards ceremony are NOT required to enter the contest and will not factor in to the selection of winning essays.
The Prompt: Choose ONE of the following three quotations or the option to choose your own quotation and write an essay (no more than 1,000 words for ages 12-15 | no more than 1,500 words for ages 16-18) expressing how the quotation relates to your own life.
Essay entry length / word count:
- Ages 12-15 should be no more than 1,000 words.
- Ages 16-18 should be no more than 1,500 words.
Essays can be submitted as a Word document or as a PDF (PDF is preferred).
Submission deadline is Monday, March 30, 2026 by 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
Winners will be announced on Monday, April 20, 2026.
A grand prize, second prize, and third prize will be awarded in each age group. Honorable mentions are at the discretion of the judges. Please check back as we will be announcing additions to the prize packages soon!
Winning entries will be posted on the Anne Frank LA website, if consent is given by the parent/guardian/or student (age 18+).
Winners will receive an invitation to an Awards and Prize Ceremony (May 2026 in Los Angeles, exact date and location TBA). Students ability to attend the ceremony will not be factored into the judging.
Feel free to look at previous winning essays on our website, but the most important thing is that you stay true to your own personal voice and story.

The Prompt

The quotations below have been selected from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

Please choose one of the following quotes and prompts for your essay submission:

1. “It’s amazing how much these generous and unselfish people do, risking their own lives to help and save others...Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we’re too much trouble.” -Friday, January 28, 1944

Prompt: Write about a time when you were grateful to receive someone’s help and what that help meant to you. You may also discuss a time when you helped someone else.

2. “Where there is hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again. We’ll need to be brave to endure the many fears and hardships and sufferings yet to come. It’s now a matter of remaining calm and steadfast, of gritting our teeth and keeping a stiff upper lip!” -Tuesday, June 6, 1944

Prompt: Tell us about your biggest hopes for yourself, or for the world.

3. “I know my various faults and shortcomings better than anyone else, but there’s one difference: I also know that I want to change, will change and already have changed greatly!” -Tuesday, June 13, 1944

PROMPT: How do you feel that you have changed in the past year? What things about yourself would you like to change and how do you do this while also working to accept and love yourself?

Anne Frank Day Contest

ANNE FRANK DAY YOUR STORY MATTERS CONTEST

Submission Guidelines

Awards & Prizes (with continued updates)

The Prompt

The quotations below have been selected from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

Contest Submission