Students are asked to write a Profile in Courage, an essay of no more than 1,000 words about an act of political courage by a U.S. elected official that occurred during or after 1956, the publication date of Profiles in Courage.  The official may have addressed an issue at the local, state, or national level.

The essays can’t be about John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy. In addition, they can’t be about previous Profile in Courage recipients.  Essays must have a minimum of five sources, including one non-internet source.

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• United States high school students in grades nine through twelve attending public, private, parochial, or home schools;
• U.S. students under the age of twenty enrolled in a high school correspondence/GED program in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, or the U.S. territories; and
• U.S. citizens attending schools overseas.
• Past winners and finalists are not eligible to participate. Employees of John Hancock Financial Services and members of their families are not eligible to participate.
  

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