EDWARDSBURG — Seventh-grader at Edwardsburg Middle School Richard Duis said he enjoys freedom, and his English and language arts class.

Recently, he combined the two by writing, “I feel that America is great because of our freedom, the many cultures in our country and the opportunities to better ourselves.”

Those words, along with about 300 more, won him a top-five finish in a statewide essay contest.

Duis, 12, recently placed fifth in the state of Michigan for the Veteran of Foreign Wars Patriot’s Pen essay contest. The annual competition allows students across the U.S. to pen 300- to 400-word essays on a topic chosen by the VFW. This year’s theme was “What Makes America Great.” Duis won a $750 scholarship for placing fifth in the state and another $100 for tying for first place at EMS. He was honored as a winner at Jan. 24 ceremony in Kalamazoo.

“The topic we had was ‘Make America Great,’” Duis said. “To me, that’s freedom.”

Duis spent about three to four days crafting his essay and getting his feelings down on paper. He said he drew from his own experiences — such as a trip to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C. — to articulate how he was grateful for his freedom.

“I’m just grateful to have the freedom to choose what I want to do,” he said. “A lot of other countries don’t have those same kinds of freedoms.”

Initially, Duis did not expect to place in the essay contest.

The attention he has received since placing fifth is something he said he is not used to and he has found it somewhat overwhelming. Despite this, Duis said he is glad he participated in the contest and was surprised about what he could achieve.

“I feel pretty proud of myself,” he said.

Next year, Duis is planning to again participate in the Patriot’s Pen contest, this time hoping that he might even take home the first-place prize and move on to the national competition.

“That would be pretty cool,” he said. “Really, to do as well as I did again would be awesome. That would make me happy.”

Until next year, Duis said he is thinking about the best way to spend his prize. His mother set up a savings account for Duis with his winnings to be used when he is older but gave him $50 of it spend now as he likes.

“I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with the $50,” he said. “The rest I’ll save for college or to buy a car when I’m older.”