By Becca McCulloch

Recently, junior Alex Kray was nominated as a semi-finalist out of tens of thousands of essays in the national Ayn Rand Institute essay contest at the end of last year. The Ayn Rand Institute (named for novelist- philosopher Ayn Rand, who is best known for her novels Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged) seeks to organize a cultural renaissance that will reverse the anti-reason, anti-individualism, anti-freedom, anti-capitalist trends in today’s culture. Ayn Rand’s philosophy- known as Objectivism- holds that to reverse the current political and economical trends in America and throughout the world requires a reversal of our society’s fundamental philosophy.

The contest’s essays had to demonstrate an understanding of the philosophical meaning of the novel, Anthem. Alex said that, “In Anthem, Rand creates a society with no individualism, one that is ruled by the government. The purpose of this society is to help people realize what they have, and be thankful for the freedom that so many people have fought hard to provide for us.” The essays were evaluated in an unbiased, multi-round judging process. Students’ names remained unknown to the judges and didn’t appear on their essays. Alex’s essay closed with the following profound thought: “Individualism not only allows individuals to live to their fullest potential by using their quest for knowledge, but it allows society to benefit from the diverse talents of its individuals.” A big congratulations goes out to Alex Kray for placing in the contest and good luck with qualifying for finals!