We are thrilled to announce that Diem Jennings, a senior at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York and the first-place winner of the 2025–2026 American Foreign Service Association’s National High School Essay Contest, will be embarking on a global voyage with Semester at Sea. Jennings earned the top honor in AFSA’s national scholarship competition for her essay, “Present at the Destruction: American Foreign Policy and the Abandonment of Diplomatic Engagement.”
The contest is sponsored annually by AFSA and each year’s winner is awarded a scholarship to sail on Semester at Sea.
For over 250 years, the U.S. Foreign Service has been the nation’s professional diplomatic corps and the front-line institution of American diplomacy—negotiating peace agreements, managing crises, and fostering long-term alliances to advance American interests overseas through vital soft power.
“Receiving this honor feels like the start of a much bigger journey,” Jennings said. “I can’t wait to step aboard Semester at Sea, learn alongside peers from around the world, and see firsthand how education at sea can shape the next generation of diplomats and global citizens.”
Jennings, who previously studied Mandarin in Taiwan through the State Department’s NSLI-Y program, views diplomacy as a deeply personal calling. “Diplomacy can seem abstract, but to me, it’s deeply personal. It’s what keeps the world running — and why I believe peace is always within reach,” Jennings shared. As she prepares to major in International Politics and Economics at Middlebury College with the ultimate goal of becoming a Foreign Service officer, she views this next chapter as a massive stepping stone.
