Two Epsom College students have achieved top awards in prestigious essay competitions. Sixth Former Alicia was judged the overall subject winner “for an outstanding essay in the humanities or social sciences”, while Year 11 pupil Lea was highly commended for her essay on medicine.
Alicia, who is aiming to study Philosophy and Theology at Cambridge, entered the Northeastern University essay competition to improve her research and analytical writing. She worked on her entry throughout Michaelmas term and over Christmas.
“Writing for the competition gave me the chance to discuss AI, a topic I have both passion and concern for, critically and with real philosophical scrutiny,” Alicia said. “The process challenged me to think analytically and, as a result, develop my own distinctive academic voice. I enjoyed the entire process – it has made me want to dive deeper into my philosophical understanding of AI.”
Lea’s essay – submitted as a Year 11 student, but in the Year 12 category – was titled How Should Medical Professionals Approach Health Inequality in the 21st Century?
She heard about the competition through her attendance at Epsom College’s Junior Medical Society and decided to enter.
“I enter one or two competitions each year, and have done since I was in Year 9,” Lea said. “This has helped my understanding and fuelled my curiosity in medicine. I ultimately want to study medicine at university.”
Lea’s essay was entered into the Minds Underground essay competition. Minds Underground, which features in the Times Educational Top 10, was founded by sisters Ilana and Camille, graduates of Cambridge and Oxford respectively.
Despite being a year younger than all other entrants, Lea’s essay was highly commended by Minds Underground – an impressive achievement and ringing endorsement of Lea’s critical and analytical skill.
