In a winning personal essay on the meaning behind the American flag, 11-year-old Hannah Faruolo, of Toms River, wrote that when she was younger in an orphanage in Korea, she would wish on stars like the ones on the flag for a family.
According to Faruolo’s story, reported by 6ABC, she was abandoned on the doorstep of a church in her home country and lived in an orphanage until age 6, when she was adopted by Dana and Clem Faruolo of Toms River.
"After I saw the gigantic flag I saw the stars and stripes and I knew I was in America and I knew I was home. I saw the stars and I know people wish upon them and I always wished upon my family," - 11-year-old Hannah Faruolo, of Toms River.
"After I saw the gigantic flag I saw the stars and stripes and I knew I was in America and I knew I was home. I saw the stars and I know people wish upon them and I always wished upon my family," she wrote.
Faruolo's essay was chosen from almost 5,000 entries as the grand-prize winner in PNC Bank's annual American Patriot Essay contest.
"I love that I live in a country where you are free to believe however you want," she told 6ABC.
As the grand-prize winner, Faruolo will take a hot air balloon ride at next month’s New Jersey Festival of Ballooning.
Read the full 6ABC article here.