By Nicole Dalal, Joint First Place Winner ( Grades 5th to 8th)

The swarm of news reporters stormed into the Oval Office, eager to extract any piece of information they possibly could.
The magnificence of the room brought a special sense of national pride to one of the reporters. His eyes beamed as he perceived the stability and peace in the world that had been achieved under the reign of the new president. The eagle had truly spread its wings under this new administration and had taken flight, soaring into new and unexplored heights.
"Excuse me," he spoke, politely introducing himself to the kind secretary in the corner. "I would like to have a word with Ms. President."
"One moment please," the soft-spoken secretary announced as she walked over to the miraculously carved desk. She tapped the large leather chair and murmured, "Ms. President. We have some reporters who would like to talk to you."

The chair swiveled and the reporter found himself face to face with me, the President of the United States of America. Graciously, I smiled back to my secretary as I pulled out a pen, signing the most recent bill on children's healthcare. I then professionally stood up, pushed back my hair, and smiled a gleaming grin to the cameras. The crowd of reporters applauded as I reached out to shake hands with the advocate of the Children's Protection Group.
"Ms. President, Ms. President, can we have a quote?" an energized reporter questioned. "What do you feel about providing children with a better future?"
"Children are the future. Providing them with a better future is making the future a better place. Another children's bill passes, another child's future benefited. One day, all of our efforts will pay off. The world will be a better place. Be assured. Trust me to lead the world towards its full potential." As I portrayed my views on helping children, I could not help but think to myself, "Funny how my own childhood dreams seem to come true."

In reality, this event has not occurred yet. I have not become one of the greatest presidents ever, and I have certainly not become the subject of the attention of many reporters. However, I do believe that if I were to run for President of the United States of America, I would bring about such a change that could make a difference in the world.
In childhood, every person wants to be a dancer, a clown, an artist, and astronaut, or the President. Presidency may actually be a childhood dream I would like to realize.
Why do I think that I could make a difference in the way things in this world work? I think that it is mainly because of my capability to start a task and finish it. Dedication is a huge factor in my life that would definitely shine in my presidency. In the future, I would certainly like to become the President to prove the world many things.

My presidency would help to break the invisible barr iers against race and gender, that somehow, in some sense, some people are inferior to others. The President of the United States commands respect wherever the name is mentioned. The position is one of honor, and it certainly is one that represents the majestic American eagle, the king of all birds.

As a lawful and devoted president, one of the most important issues to me would be to help cure poverty in the world. Poverty and disease plague many third-world countries and even many developed countries. Because part of one of my life-long dreams in life is to become a doctor, seeing people suffer is certainly not something I enjoy. During my regime as President, these issues that impact the world on a daily basis would be my primary focus, and I would take it upon myself to try to fix the glitches in the world, taking the problems in the world apart. In an attempt to improve the slumping economy in the United States, I would do whatever it takes to create jobs and boost the morale in my beloved country by reducing budget deficit and improving the economy.

Another issue that I would truly embrace would be the issue of equal treatment in the nation. I would seriously want women, children, blacks, whites, Hindus, and Christians to all be treated the same, and any infractions of this moral code would be seen as something truly wrong in my eyes.

An extra important issue in my eyes would be to improve foreign policies and international relations especially with war-stricken areas such as the Middle East. I would work extremely hard to bring peace to the world and bring our wonderfully brave troops home, safe and sound.

Last, but certainly no least, a primary concern of mine would be to protect the environment by promoting different "Save the Earth" campaigns. I would try to find a system of recycling and conserving fossil fuels while still looking for a save alternative energy source to keep the future of the Earth out of jeopardy.

Through many of my life experiences, I have learned that togetherness is a blessing that we must use properly. I would try to bring the world together and bring about peace in the world, doing all within my power and capability to prove to the world that I would be an extremely competent President. After all, a President cares about his or her own country. To prove my point and endorse my cause, all I can say is that I care about my country, and most of all, I care about the future of the world.

Judges' comments:

Scott Herhold:Very nice introduction, gives a more personal idea of what the job would be like. A little vague in policy ideas, but perfect grammatically.

Shana Dhillon: Great essay! I think the essay started out very smoothly with the imagery provided. It addressed some very important issues but I would have really liked to see more analysis on why each of the issues being solved needed to be solved. I need the “so what?” question to be answered, otherwise I don’t know why these issues need attention.

Very well written though. Good use of word limit.

Vidya Pradhan: A very creative beginning and good structure overall.  

Nicole Dalal is an 8th grade student at Challenger School in Newark, California. Essay printed as is. 

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