U.S. Independence Day Essay Competition

The United States celebrates Independence Day on July 4, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
To mark this day, U.S. Embassy Tashkent would like to announce an essay competition open to all residents of Uzbekistan, aged between 15 and 25.
The Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Signing of the Declaration was extremely important for Americans because it gave us the right to go to war against England to obtain freedom, which we have carefully protected and cherished since then.
For this essay competition, tell us:

WHAT DOES FREEDOM MEAN TO YOU?

The essays will be evaluated and graded for clarity, completeness and creativity by a judging committee of American diplomats. Winners will be announced and awarded at the Chai Chat Club on Friday, July 5.
The writers of the top three essays will receive the following awards:
First place: Apple iPod touch 16 GBSecond place: Apple iPod nano 16 GBThird place: Apple iPod shuffle 2 GB
Please note:

• The deadline for submitting essays is 18:00, Friday, June 28.
• Essays must be typed in English and be 500 words or shorter.
• Essays found to be plagiarized, including copying and pasting content from Wikipedia and other websites, will be disqualified. To ensure fair competition, the judges have the right to request interviews with finalists and give them an additional short writing assignment before making the final decision. The decisions made by the judging committee are final and cannot be appealed.
• Essays must be emailed to Tashkent-IRC@state.gov

or sent to
The Embassy of the United States of America
ATTN: Public Affairs Section (Essay Competition)
3 Moyqorghon Street, 5th Block,
Yunusobod District, 100093 Tashkent