By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
Medical Lake High School senior Natale Szabo made state history this month when her award-winning audio essay for the Washington State Veterans of Foreign Wars Voices of Democracy contest became the national VFW contest winner for 2009.
Szabo's essay was picked from 54 entries written by high school students from both the U.S., and American military bases around the world.
The announcement was made at an April ceremony in Washington, D.C., which Szabo attended as the state's official winner through the VFW Post 3386, and the Airway Heights Ladies Auxiliary.
Szabo said learning that her essay, “Service and Sacrifice by America's Veterans Benefit Today's Youth by…” was the big winner wasn't what she expected, considering she wrote it almost entirely during a prep period.
“It was just writing what I thought, mostly,” she said when asked what she thought it was about her essay that won points with judging panels at both the state and national level. Students were asked to write about how veterans benefit the nation's youth.
Instead of talking solely on the actions of veterans, Szabo gave a 17-year-old, non-military individual's point of view whose belief was veterans' actions get largely overlooked by today's youth, who nonetheless share in the fruits of their labor.
“I think it's because my view wasn't typical, and not the angle taken on the subject you'd expect,” Szabo said.
She wrote of how the freedoms and liberties “We Americans take so selfishly as a ‘right' instead of a ‘privilege' today,” were paid for “in blood, tears, and pure determination.”
What's allowed Americans the right to elect people to public office, stage protests, get an education, and write, read or publish about anything imaginable, people owe to a brave group of “rabble-rousers” from the 1700s.
Though her family isn't military, Szabo said her appreciation for the sacrifices of the armed services comes from attending Medical Lake High School, where half the population's families are active military. The personal freedoms she enjoys, like books, television, choice of dress, organic food, and her life, “I owe every bit of it to the veterans that have sacrificed for me.”
“Our military has always put the good of the people above their own well being,” she concluded.
Szabo was recently crowned one of the princesses for the Spokane Lilac Festival's 2009 Royalty Court. Vice president of royalty for the festival, Karene Garlich-Loman, said in a recent press release that Szabo's speech was a perfect example of what makes the MLHS senior a special individual.
“I knew the minute I met Natale that she was an extraordinary individual and I'm proud to have Natale on our Royalty Court,” Garlich-Loman said.
The $30,000 T.C. Selman Memorial scholarship provided by the VFW was a nice touch too, which Szabo said should pay for about two years' tuition at Washington State University, the college she'll be attending this fall.
Cara Lorello can be reached at clorello@cheneyfreepress.com
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