Genevieve W Shortlisted for John Locke 2021 Essay Competition!

Genevieve W, a year 12 student at Dulwich International High School Suzhou, has recently been shortlisted for the highly prestigious and internationally recognized John Locke Institute 2021 Global Essay Competition!

The extremely bright and articulate girl has been fascinated by history from a young age and has since developed a keen interest in hermeneutics (the branch of knowledge that deals with the interpretation of history) after being introduced to the concept by Mr. Steve Hodgkin, Head of University Counselling and a University of Cambridge alumnus. 

Her essay was submitted to the John Locke Institute in the History Category. In it, Genevieve provides a thorough and well research argument that judging the past for the sake of the present is dangerous and self-defeating.

Genevieve first found out about the essay competition while she was part of the Dulwich Business League CCA. One of her fellow students delivered a presentation on academic competitions. Later she remembered that one of them was the John Locke Global Essay Competition and decided to check it out. 

Genevieve was drawn in by the wide variety of essay categories in the competition and thought that it would be interesting to enter it. When she first approached it, she wasn’t planning to write an essay on history, instead, she intended to write in the Politics or Economics category.  However, when she looked that the essay question titles, she was particularly drawn to the history question.

Mr. Hodgkin advised Genevieve, that if she was going to enter the competition, it was vital to write something that she was genuinely interested in and passionate about. She was encouraged and supported by Mr. Hodkinson throughout the process.  He even said that it didn’t matter if she finished the essay in time to submit it to the competition, as the process of researching and writing the essay was the most important thing.

It was the first essay of this length that Genevieve has ever written! Having read it, we were left with the impression that this was more like a university student’s essay than an essay written by a high school pupil. Genevieve is convinced that the secret to writing a good essay is, firstly, finding a subject that you are deeply interested in. 

Secondly, it’s all about coming up with a brave and compelling argument. She explained that you don’t even have to agree wholeheartedly with your argument, but it must be both unique and brave! Genevieve modestly explained that what she has written is not even close to a perfect essay, but that the journey of writing it taught her more than any prize ever could!

Genevieve knew that the shortlist would be announced around the 17th of July, during the school summer holiday.  She hadn’t received an email and it wasn’t until the 20th of July that she discovered the good news buried in her spam folder!

Over four thousand entries from 101 countries were submitted to the institute and it took the panel of thirty-six examiners two weeks to complete the first two readings in order to assess all the entries and compile a list of the best of the best. Genevieve will know by the end of September if her shortlisted essay has won a prize in the History Category.

In common with most of our students that develop exceptional English language skills, Genevieve explained that she reads a lot, which helps to improve her vocabulary. Reading is also a great way to improve your writing. 

Genevieve expressed a particular fondness for the historical novels of Ken Follet and explained that she started with “A Column of Fire”, absolutely loved it, and has since read all of Ken Follet’s books. 

Genevieve enjoys participating in Mr. Brian Craig’s English Literature CCA and was part of the COIL reading program last semester. As well as a love of literature, Genevieve is also a musician who plays the violin and was part of the school orchestra.

We ended the interview by asking Genevieve what advice she had for year ten students. She reflected on just how quickly the time has flashed by since she was in year 10 and explained that it was important to try and find your interests early, so you have time to pursue them.  Genevieve’s advice is to try different things until you find something you are passionate about.

What is the John Locke Institute 2021 Global Essay Competition?

The John Locke Institute Global Essay Competition is, as the name suggests, an international essay writing competition, open to students under the age of 18, around the world. However, the John Locke Essay competition has the distinction of being one of the single most respected and well renowned essay writing competitions in the world. The John Locke essay writing competition encourages students to write and develop independent, critical thinking skills. Essays submitted must be in one of the following categories

• Philosophy
• Politics
• Economics
• History
• Psychology
• Theology
• Law

You can find out more information about the John Locke Institute and their Essay Competition on their official website.