Pair of Students Excel in International Essay Competition
Two St. Michael’s College School (SMCS) students recently made their mark on the international stage, placing in the top five per cent in the John Locke Institute’s Global Essay Competition.
Brian Lee, Grade 11, and Arjun Sivakumar, Grade 12, received the High Commendation award among 100,227 entries across 183 countries.
“When I found out that I had received a High Commendation, the first emotion I felt was relief,” says Lee. “That particular moment meant that my hard work had finally paid off and was proof to me that I was capable of doing great things as long as I put in the appropriate amount of effort. Now, this essay serves as a challenge; it is a standard that I must surpass.”
For the competition, students had to choose a question from one of 10 subject categories and then submit their essays independently, with guidance from an academic referee. Essays were then judged by a panel of academics from universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Princeton.
Vanessa Iaboni, an SMCS English teacher, taught both finalists in her AP English Language and Composition course.
“Brian has had a strong start to AP English Language and Composition this year and is showing strong abilities in critical thinking and argumentation,” Iaboni says of Lee, one of her current students. “The course focuses on non-fiction texts and the art of rhetoric, and he is already showing signs of promise in his ability to inform, influence, and persuade an audience. Even when I taught him in Grade 9, Brian consistently performed well and was engaged in the variety of English texts students are exposed to in our English programme.”
Iaboni also taught Sivakumar in the same course last year. “Arjun was an exceptional student in my AP English Language and Composition course and was consistently one of the strongest writers. He put his best foot forward all year, and despite his already high level, developed as a writer throughout the course. He is a very hard worker, and it comes as no surprise to me that he is being recognized for his talents in writing.”
Brian Lee – History
Lee’s essay addressed a question in the history category: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Is it? Does it?’
“I was originally going to write about economics, which is what I plan to pursue professionally. However, I chose history because I had never written a decent history paper. I wanted to treat this competition as not only a possibility for an award, but an opportunity to sharpen my skills and become a better writer overall.”
Lee describes the entire process of completing his essay as a rigorous challenge.
“I spent hours choosing what words would fit best and thoroughly analyzed whether my writing had room for improvement,” he says. “I had set my own goal to not write generically, which proved to be difficult as history is usually observed through an analytical lens rather than a creative one.”
Ever since he was little, Lee says he’s enjoyed reading and telling stories. “Naturally, my writing ability quickly improved due to the mass amounts of literature that I would consume, leading me to be increasingly interested in writing itself. At this stage in my life, writing is an opportunity to grow intellectually. It improves my analytical thinking and helps me to form mature and complex ideas that test my acumen.”
Receiving a high commendation following the competition left Lee feeling very happy. “Although I was immensely happy that my hard work paid off, I felt this to be more of a stepping stone instead of the finale of my journey as a writer. I plan to pursue and accomplish greater things as I continue to write, which has led me to feel excited for what is to come rather than contentedly complacent.”
Arjun Sivakumar – Science and Technology
Sivakumar’s essay answered a science and technology category prompt: ‘Is free speech the enemy of science?’
“The process for writing this essay was really different from writing essays in school as the competition operates more like an undergraduate thesis defence than a high school report or personal essay,” says Sivakumar, who selected his topic because it intersects philosophy and science—two disciplines that he’s very passionate about. “Because the contest rewards conviction, original argumentation and independent thought (regurgitated or trite arguments are discouraged), spending a lot of time thinking about novel ways to answer the prompt was key. A good chunk of my time was also spent reading existing literature and understanding the landscape of the issue.”
Sivakumar’s interest in writing began when he started high school, alongside his passion for the sciences.
“As I grew older and began grappling with increasingly existential questions, I found myself drawn to the humanities in a search for answers that the sciences could not provide,” he says. “I especially began to immerse myself in history and philosophy; writing became my way to actively engage with the authors I admired and map out, develop, and occasionally reassess my own beliefs.”
He adds that writing has now become a creative outlet for his intellectual and personal expression.
“For me, the process of research and writing is incredibly stimulating, and once I get into the flow of it, writing becomes almost therapeutic (even more so when it is outside of the rigid boundaries of the classroom). As I pursue a career in STEM, I hope to refine my voice so that one day I can use my writing to make a meaningful, impactful contribution to both scientific and humanistic discourse.”
Receiving a high commendation award for his work left Sivakumar with a similar sense of relief. “I was relieved that all the effort that I had put into the essay was not in vain. I don’t feel this is the culmination of my writing journey in high school, but it was definitely a major step on my journey. I hope to continue to improve my writing skills and reach greater heights with my submissions this year.”
Related links: