Academic Awards
I have always been an avid reader and also enjoy writing. Even as an aspiring researcher, I feel that the impact of research is amplified if one is able to communicate it well. So, when I came across writing opportunities like the New York Times STEM Essay competition and the John Locke Essay competition, I attempted to put down my thoughts and submitted them.
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I also challenged myself to test my understanding of biological sciences by participating in the 2023 British Biology Olympiad (BBO) and the 2023 USA-China Biology Olympiad.
New York Times STEM Essay Contest
For the New York Times STEM essay competition, I wrote about producing fresh drinking water in dessert greenhouses leveraging certain biomimicry mechanisms inspired by camels and beetles.
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I was thrilled when my submission was recognized with an honorable mention. I later found out that it was one of only 45 out of 3000+ submissions to be recognized with an award, and one of only 4 from outside the US as well as the only one from Singapore.
Writing this essay was a lot of fun for me as it led me to explore many eclectic and interesting applications of science in the world around us. Click here or on my essay title to the left to read my essay.
John Locke Essay Competition
I participated in the John Locke Essay Competition this year. In the words of the organizers taken from their website, "The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum."
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Though I had never written a philosophical piece before, I found philosophy and ethics interesting. So I decided to choose the Philosophy topic - "In what sense are you the same person today that you were when you were ten?"
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I was thrilled to find out that my essay has been shortlisted for commendation and for consideration for the 2023 Global Prize for which they invited me to the Awards ceremony at University of Oxford. They said that the shortlisting was done from over 19000 entries.
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"In what sense are you the same person today that you were when you were ten?"
BBO 2023
I participated in British Biology Olympiad to test my knowledge of Biology and received a Global Silver award.
USA-China Biology Olympiad 2023
I also participated in the USA-China Biology Olympiad 2023 and received a Regional Honorable Award. Could have done better here!!
Quest Excellence Award
For my performance in the Quest program at school including the research I did and the research paper I wrote as part of my AT English - Research and Composition course, I received the Excellence in Quest program award and the Excellence Course certificate presented to the best performing student.
