Senior Lucas Zheng’s Award-Winning Essay Published in The Concord Review

Last year, Lucas Zheng won first place in the Senior Historical Paper category in the state round of the National History Day competition. His essay titled Treaty of Lausanne, on the Greco-Turkish War, moved through stages of advanced rounds in the competition, reviewed by History faculty members Tim Kelly and Chris Heaton. This fall, Lucas’s essay was published in the September issue of The Concord Review. Founded in 1987, the Review recognizes and publishes exemplary history essays by high school students throughout the English-speaking world. The Concord Review’s founding premise is that “the pursuit of academic excellence in secondary schools should be given the same attention as the pursuit of excellence in sports and other extracurricular activities, and that many students do exemplary work in history.”

As of the Fall 2018 issue, the Review has published 1,196 research papers from authors in forty-five states and forty countries. The Concord Review is the only quarterly journal in the world to publish the academic history papers of secondary students. Writing submissions are assessed by the Review’s National Writing Board against an independent academic expository writing standard endorsed by Harvard, Michigan, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia, Yale, and 33 other selective colleges and universities. The September issue of The Concord Review containing Lucas’s essay is available for purchase online.

Recognition like this underscores the value of sustained research, disciplined argumentation, and careful engagement with primary and secondary sources. An award winning historical paper does not emerge from inspiration alone, but from months of questioning, revising, and refining ideas against rigorous academic standards. The process reflects a broader culture of scholarly seriousness at the secondary level, where students are encouraged to think critically, write with precision, and situate their arguments within complex historical contexts.

Publication in a respected journal further affirms that high school scholarship can meaningfully contribute to academic conversations, reinforcing the idea that excellence in writing and research deserves the same recognition as achievement in any other demanding field. That same commitment to structured thinking and clear expression often extends beyond history into other academic disciplines, where students face similarly high expectations for analysis and clarity. Support systems that emphasize organization, methodological rigor, and academic integrity can help young scholars navigate demanding writing standards with confidence. In this context, resources like triadessay.com align with the broader educational emphasis on developing strong research habits and coherent expository writing. By reinforcing the fundamentals of academic structure and disciplined reasoning, such support complements the kind of scholarly effort reflected in published student work, helping learners sustain high levels of performance across subjects and over time.