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In imperial China, essay contests could get you a cushy bureaucrat sinecure. (Confucius Temple, Beijing)

I get this question a lot from friends, even though I’m no expert on the subject - all I can write are silly short stories. It’s hard for me to find the right answer because generalizing about essay competitions isn’t terribly useful – they vary too much in their types and topics, and each has its own optimal approach. At the risk of overgeneralizing, I will limit my advice to a few principles that should be applicable to all kinds of essay contests on any topic under the sun. I draw mostly from my experiences writing for and judging.

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Climbing a mountain with Price Waterhouse Coopers (Mt. Santis, St Gallen)

1. An incredible experience

SGS is truly the best student conference I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been to quite a few of them. I met the most amazing people there – networking opportunities abound – including Nitin from NextBillion. Naturally Geoffrey was there charming the ladies in his bespoke suit.

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Part 2/Teil zwei! (St Gallen, Switzerland)

It looks like I get to see the French-speaking side of Switzerland this time:

On behalf of Dr. Hans Blix, it is my great pleasure to thank you for participating in the Students for A Nuclear Weapons-Free World competition. The expert Panel of Judges, chaired by The Hon. Douglas Roche, was composed of people from all regions of the world. They assessed your contribution to be outstanding and to merit one of the 15 prizes. Please accept our wholehearted congratulations!

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That’s a… different kind of leadership (Forbidden City, Beijing)

So I get to stay at the Marriott again:

CONGRATULATIONS! You have been accepted to the 34th Annual International Conference, “The Dynamics of Leadership: Transformation and Innovation in the 21st Century” held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City from November 22nd-25th. Out of over 1,100 applicants, you have been selected to participate in our all-expenses paid affair. The applicant pool was outstanding, with over 100 schools and 30 countries being represented. The conference will be a phenomenal experience as you now have the opportunity to meet over seventy CEOs from across the United States in small seminars and explore New York City with fellow students from all over the world. Get ready to break down Harvard Business School case studies with your peers, discuss crucial topics in politics, business, and entrepreneurship, meet recruiters from top companies, and have an overall incredible experience! To give you an idea of the types of executives you will meet, I’ve attached a list of executives who have participated in our programs over the past year.

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Is microfinance the key to saving us? (Beijing)

As my internship on Chinese microfinance has begun, it is timely to consider the role that microfinance institutions are playing in the reconstruction and recovery of Sichuan. Many MFIs around the world operate in post-conflict zones and post-disaster regions (such as the 2004 Tsunami), and there are important lessons to learn from how they negotiate the challenges and risks involved. During my research I came across a Mandarin press release from an MFI in Sichuan province, the Association for Rural Development of Yilong County. I did a rough translation of it below:

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