Huntington’s Ronan Driscoll Wins Suffolk Anti-Semitism Essay Contest

Huntington High School sophomore Ronan Driscoll has been chosen as one of two recipients of the 2024 Mark J. Epstein Suffolk County Leadership Award.

“A hearty congratulations to Ronan on his essay,” said Allan Richter, chairman of the Suffolk County Jewish Advisory Board. “Well done.”

Mr. Driscoll and his fellow honoree from Half Hollow Hills East, will be honored at a ceremony this spring. The teenager penned a riveting essay for the contest. He turns 16 early next month.

“The main purpose of this program is to share ideas on how to effectively combat antisemitism,” states the contest materials. “Submissions should be written based on the theme, ‘Effectively Combating Antisemitism.’ Essays must be submitted in writing or video form. Applicants must be in grades K-12 in Suffolk County (private or public school). Submissions must be in English and the length should be between 450-600 words in written form or between two-four minutes in video form.”

The sophomore said he’s lived on Long Island his entire life, but it wasn’t until he came to Huntington UFSD as a fifth grader that he “experienced real diversity for the first time; where I met kids from all different backgrounds,” Mr. Driscoll wrote in his essay.

When he started classes in Huntington, Mr. Driscoll said he met someone who remains one of his closest friends these many years later. “He also moved to public school that year, but he moved from a Jewish school, instead of a Catholic school like I did,” the teenager wrote in his essay. “Even though we came from different backgrounds, we became friends right away as we both liked the same music, watched the same sports, and had the same sense of humor. We didn’t care that we each came from different backgrounds, we just enjoyed spending time with each other. Over time, he shared with me some of his customs and I learned more about the Jewish faith. I attended his bar mitzvah as well as others, which allowed me to experience some of the Jewish faith myself. I also met more people of the Jewish faith, such as my friend’s family and other kids and friends in my school, all of whom are very respectable people. I consider myself to be very lucky to know everyone I do who is of the Jewish faith, and lucky to have met my friend.”

The sensitive and heartfelt essay addressed some of the terrible anti-Semitic stereotypes that persist to this day and Mr. Driscoll used personal experiences to highlight the fallacy of each.

Not only is Mr. Driscoll a great writer and exceptional student overall, but he is also one of the Blue Devil cross country team’s top runners and an up and coming Huntington tennis player.