The Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) essay contest, now in its seventh year, is aimed at stimulating original thought on issues in Homeland Security and Homeland Defense. CHDS launched the contest in 2008 to provide people from around the country the opportunity to express their opinions on homeland security issues and to suggest new ideas. The variety of the essay topics submitted, as well as the backgrounds of the authors, highlights the vast scope of the impact that homeland security policies, programs, and challenges have on our communities and professions. This year's contestants were asked to answer the following question: "Peter Drucker emphasized the importance of continually challenging one's assumptions. He said 'Make yourself capable of doing this by building organized abandonment into your system. By asking yourself every few years, If we weren't doing what we now do, would we want to start doing it? And if the answer is "probably not," then maybe it isn't the right thing to do anymore.' How would you apply Drucker's guidance to homeland security?". This compilation includes the winning essay by Richard Taylor, "A Hemispheric Approach to Homeland Security: Bring Mexico Fully into the Fold" and the three finalist essays: "Out with the Old, In with the New: Embracing Dual Status Commanders in the Future of Homeland Defense and Security" by Ryan Burke, "Viewing the Terrorist as Warrior: A Bitter, But Necessary, Pill to Swallow" by Scott Snair, and "Challenging Assumptions: Time to Redefine Homeland Security" by Richard White.