Full-time college students ages 18 and older can compete.

ELS, in cooperation with the United Nations Academic Impact, is seeking entries for its Academic Impact Student Essay Contest.

Essays of 2,000 words or less should discuss the ideas of global citizenship and understanding and the role that multilingual­ ability can play in fostering them. The essay should reflect author’s academic, cultural, and national context.

Essays must be in an official language of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish) that is not the entrant’s first language or language of instruction in his or her primary or secondary education.

The winners will be invited to New York to participate in a series of events June 25-29. These events will include a Global Youth Forum at the U.N. Headquarters, preceded by a preparatory students’ conference.

Airfare, room and board, sightseeing and recreation will also be provided and arranged by ELS.

The deadline is Feb. 21.

For more information, click here: http://www.els.edu/en/ManyLanguagesOneWorld