2019 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Award Winners from Rutgers
In this year's contest, there were 1,434 essays submitted from 68 universities, colleges, and institutions around the nations. Three judges in Moscow read each essay and ranked the top 15 to 20% of essays. This year, only 219 essays were given awards. One of those 219 is a Rutgers student!
Lisbeth Cespedes, Bronze Medal (A1 level)
2019 Rutgers Russian Essay Contest Results
Non-Heritage level 102
1st Place: Julia Michael
2nd Place: Lisbeth Cespedes
3rd Place: Brandon Kalika
Honorable Mention: Michael Prodanov
Non-Heritage Level 202
1st Place: Hannah Ross
2nd Place: Harry Manning
3rd Place: Jean-William Mackler
Honorable Mention: Eric Fountain
Heritage Level 208
1st Place: Daniel Bezden
2nd Place: Anna Rabinovich
3rd Place: Alec Bakholdin
Level 302
1st Place: Larissa Wojtenko
2nd Place: Brenna Yellin
3rd Place: Mikala Valosin
Level 402
1st Place: Kamila Azbel
2nd Place: Karen Done
3rd Place: Adrian Sugar
2018 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Award Winners from Rutgers
In this year's contest, there were 1,291 essays submitted from 60 universities, colleges, and institutions across the nation. Three judges read each essay and independently ranked them.
Valeriya Timoshenko, Gold Medal (Category C, Level 2)
Amalia Pederson, Honorable Mention (Category A, Level)
Samuel Vasilyev, Honorable Mention (Category C, Level 2)
Rachel Kandyba, Honorable Mention (Category C, Level 2)
2018 Rutgers Russian Essay Contest Results
Non-heritage level 102
1st Place: Jean-William Mackler
2nd Place: Devon O’Connor
3rd Place: Rebecca Riegger
Non-heritage level 202
1st Place: Jill Krutyansky
2nd Place: Kaleigh Sisco
3rd Place: Aleksandra Rebenko
Heritage level 208
1st Place: Arkady Shapir
2nd Place: Alina Rimmer
Honorable Mention: Samuel Vasiliyev
Level 302
1st Place: Sean Olejar
Level 404
1st Place: Yana Kamishilina
2nd Place: Valeriya Timoshenko
Honorable Mention: Anastasiia Maksimova
2017 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Award Winners from Rutgers
In this year's contest, there were 1,326 essays submitted from 67 universities, colleges, and institutions across the nation. Three judges read each essay and independently ranked them.
Valeriya Timoshenko, Bronze Medal (Heritage Learners, Level 3)
Bogdana Bartkiv, Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners of other Slavic languages, Level 2)
Rachel Kandyba, Bronze Medal (Heritage Learners, Level 2)
Liliya Bondarenko, Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 2)
Marina Shimarova, Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 2)
Mar Nikiforova, Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 4)
2017 Rutgers Russian Essay Contest Results
Non-heritage level 102, section 02
1st Place: Gregory Melillo
2nd Place: Erik Fountain
3rd Place: Matthew Romero
Non-heritage level 102, section 03
1st Place: Andre Pereldik
2nd Place: Andres Escobar
3rd Place: Brenna Yellin
Honorable Mention: Haleigh Hamrick
Non-heritage level 202
1st Place: Marisa Gallicchio
2nd Place: Dezzie Ligon III
3rd Place: Cordelia Turner
Honorable Mention: Bogdana Bartkiv
Heritage level 208
1st Place: Liliya Bondarenko
Level 402
1st Place: Mar Nikiforova
2nd Place: Valeriya Timoshenko
3rd Place: Margarita Brown
2016 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest Award Winners from Rutgers
In this year's contest, there were 1,415 essays submitted from 79 universities, colleges, and institutions across the nation. Three judges read each essay and independently ranked them.
Silver Medal (Heritage Learners, Level 2), Daniel Kats
Bronze Medal (Heritage Learners of Other Slavic Languages, Level 2), Bogdana Bartkiv
2016 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Non-heritage level 102
1st Place: Bogdana Bartkiv
2nd Place: Amy Schwartz
3rd Place: Marisa Gallicchio
Honorable Mention: Cordelia Turner
Non-heritage level 202
1st Place: Mikaela Peters
2nd Place: Brenda Rios
3rd Place: Kurt Butka
Heritage level 208
1st Place: Michelle Chekunova
2nd Place: Oksana Sokolova
3rd Place: Daniel Kats
Level 302
1st Place: Kristina Beschastnova
2nd Place: Mar Nikiforova
3rd Place: Stephen Cholewka
Level 402
1st Place: Tatiana Bereznikova
2nd Place: Irada Yusunova
3rd Place: Raul Aguilar
Honorable Mention: Ksenija Tihomirova
2015 National ACTR Winners from Rutgers
Gold Medal (Heritage Learners, Level 4), Olga Dovhanyuk
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 5), Tatiana Bereznikova
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 4), Mar Nikiforova
Honorable Mention (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 2), Aleksandra Wec
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 1), Dimitry Apollonsky
In this year's national contest, there were 1,087 essays submitted from 68 universities, colleges, and institutions across the nation. Each essay was ranked by three judges in Russia, and often the resultswere simply too close to call.
2015 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Best Essay, Non-Heritage
Ireen Ha
Non-Heritage Level 102
1st Place: Amalia Pederson
2nd Place: Aleksandra Wec
3rd Place: Brenda Rios
Honorable Mention: Caroline Clark, Bridget Macavoy
Non-Heritage Level 202
1st Place: Nicholas Sun
2nd Place: Olympia Christofinis
3rd Place: Michael Orama
Heritage Level 208
1st Place: Mar Nikiforova
2nd Place: Daniel Shifman
3rd Place: David Lubashevski
Level 302/402
1st Place: Tatiana Bereznikova
2nd Place: Luka Rekhviashvili
3rd Place: Raul Aguilar
2014 National ACTR Winners from Rutgers
We had a record number of national winners from Rutgers this year - 14 of our students won awards at the national level!
First Place (Heritage Learners, Level 3), Solomiya Stebelska
Second Place (Heritage Learners, Level 1), Nadiya Chuchvara
Third Place (Heritage Learners, Level 4), Iulia Bardareanu
Third Place (Heritage Learners, Level 2), Carolyn Czarnecki
Third Place (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 2), Raul Aguilar
Third Place (Heritage Learners, Level 1), Marina Shayevich and Anna Volski
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 1), Patrick Parlej, Ronen Shor and Michael Boutoussov
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 2), Robert Svechin
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 3), Margarita Brown
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 4), Tatiana Bereznikova and Dmitry Strykas
In this year's national contest, there were 1,004 essays submitted from 58 universities, colleges, and institutions across the nation. Each essay was ranked by three judges in Russia, and often the results were simply too close to call.
2014 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Non-Heritage Level 102
1st Place: Timothy Hartmann
2nd Place: Nicholas Sun
3rd Place: Olympia Christofinis
Honorable Mention: Philip Wythe
Non-Heritage Level 202
1st Place: Raul Aguilar
2nd Place: Tristan Kernan
3rd Place: Anthony Arias-Amaya
Heritage Level 208
1st Place: Margarita Brown
2nd Place: Marina Shayevich
3rd Place: Irada Yunusova
Level 302/402
1st Place: Iulia Bardareanu
2nd Place: Dmitry Styrkas
3rd Place: Tatiana BereznikovaHonorable Mention: Kirill Abramov
2013 National ACTR Winners from Rutgers
Second Place (Heritage Learners, Level 1) Anna Volski
Third Place (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 1) Jason Kancylarz
Honorable Mention (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 1) Raul Aguilar
In this year's national contest, there were 946 essays submitted from 57 universities and colleges. Each essay was ranked by three judges in Russia, and often the results were simply too close to call.
2013 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Best Essay Heritage
Anna Volski
Non-heritage Level 102
1st place Raul Aguilar
2nd place Jessica Ackerman and Tristan Kernan
3rd place David Gifford
Honorable Mention: Lyutsiya Yokobchuk
Non-Heritage Level 202
1st place Jason Kancylarz
2nd place Carolyn Czarnecki
3rd place Mel Bandler
Heritage Level 108
1st place Irada Yunusova
2nd place Mikhail Fishbeyn and Andrey Volfson
3rd place Anne Kavalerchik
Heritage Level 208
1st place Danielle Levin
2nd place Daniel Nazarenko
3rd place Dina Finkel
Level 302
1st place Amanda Goen
2nd place Solomiya Stebelska
3rd place Daria Napolina
2012 National ACTR Winners from Rutgers
Honorable Mention (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 3) Kyle S Barry
First Place (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 2) Giselle Hsu and Solomiya Stebelska
Second Place (Heritage Learners, Level 1) Maryna Sidykh
In this year's contest, there were 1,057 essays submitted from 48 universities and colleges. Each essay was ranked by three judges in Russia, and often the results were simply too close to call.
2012 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Best Essay Non-heritage
Giselle Hsu
Best Essay Heritage
Maryna Sidykh
Non-heritage Level 102
1st place Valentina Janjus
2nd place Nina Dudko
3rd place Guliz Solmaz
Heritage Level 1
1st place Borys Derevyanko
2nd place Naomi Braginsky
3rd place Daniel Nazarenko
Honorable Mention Naomi Braginsky and Aleksey Chaikovsky
Heritage Level 2
1st place Sergiy Dmytruk
2nd place Giselle Hsu and Daria Napolina
3rd place Nikola Kendis and Solomiya Stebelska
Non-Heritage Level 202
2nd place Amanda Goen
3rd place Emily G. Kimball
Honorable mention Kymberleig Albites
Level 4
1st place Kyle Barry
2nd place Rebecca Gangi
Honorable Mention Andrew Agranovich, Max Hoyt, and Yevhen Zariczny
2012 National ACTR Winners
Honorable Mention (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 2) Kyle S Barry
Second Place (Non-Heritage Learners, Level 3) Robert P Campana
Second Place (Heritage Learners, Level 1) Maryna Sidykh
Honorable Mention (Heritage Learners, Level 3) Anthony M Polansky
In this year's contest, there were 702 essays submitted from 51 universities and colleges. Each essay was ranked by three judges in Russia, and often the results were simply too close to call. Over 100 students from 40 institutions throughout the United States win gold, silver, bronze, or honorable mention certificates.
2011 Rutgers Essay Contest Winners
Best Essay Non-heritage
Robert Campana
Best Essay Heritage
Maryna Sidych
Non-heritage Level 102
1st place Philip Berman
2nd Place Amanda Goen
3rd Place Emily Kimball
Heritage Level 1
2nd place Dimitriy Shumaev
2nd place Richard Shalmiyev
3rd place Erica Lunin
Heritage Level 2
1st place Maryna Sidykh
2nd place Michael Zilman
3rd place Olga Kozlova
3rd place Martyn Mazurek
Non-Heritage Level 201
1st place Elizabeth Taylor
2nd place Matthew Sands
3rd place Eric Rogers
Non-Heritage Level 202
1st place Kyle Barry
2nd place Sonia Szczesna
3rd place Rebecca Gangi
3rd place Tanya Jargowsky
Level 3-4
1st place Robert Campana
2nd place Liza Labudzeva
3rd place Kristine Kowalski
Honorable Mention for Originality
Mark Delendra, Helen Janiszewski and Nataliya Esperson
