Essay Competition
Winners
2022

Here they are... the essay competition winners 2022!

In the seventh annual essay competition on Kids World Travel Guide, we received over 130 entries from over 21 countries and students entered with a wide range of home languages - simply awesome!

Congratulations to our fabulous prize-winners! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful essays! And a huge Thank You to ALL who participated this year and again made this competition such a huge success!

2022 was a more cheerful year for many of us, though looming economic crises and also Covid still had a huge impact on many. We are grateful that our competition inspired the creativity of young students who covered a wide range of topics under the 2022 theme: My Life.

From motivational tips on how to lead a happy life to insightful personal life stories as well as highly creative and imaginative stories. Again, it was amazing to witness how many of you went out of your comfort zones and shared their own opinions so compassionately, motivating each other and learning about their own identity.

We have very much enjoyed reading, shortlisting and discussing the many extraordinary essays and were amazed by the high quality essays especially among the very young writers. We value all your entries and efforts, even if your essay entry did not make it into the final round.

Now finally we can announce the 2022 winners for each category - as well as some highly commended entries.

And now... drumroll, please... here they are:

Essay Competition Winners
2022:
'My Life - Make Happiness a Habit"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Songchen Zuo – English as Second Language – Home Language Mandarin (Unley Primary - Australia)

"Freedom"

Runner-up

Mumudi Gajadeera - English as Second Language - Home Language Sinhala (Horizon College, Sri Lanka)

"Roots"

Henry Jansen - English as First Language (Unley Primary, Australia)

"Bushy"

All winners have been notified via email about their success in the essay competition. Congratulations!

This year we again added special mentions for several outstanding essays of our finalists.

Special Mention

Hiranga Bandara Suraweera: "My Life" (Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka) - English as Second Language, Home language Sinhala
Naurah Afiqah Mohd Naseem: "A Day of My Life" (Sekolah Kebangsaan Putrajaya, Malaysia) - English as Second Language
Daphne Tsu: "My School Life" (Macau Anglican College, China) - English as Second Language, Home Language Chinese
Lizzie Xu: "The Flowing Rhythm of My Life" (St George’s British International School Rome, Italy) - English as Second Language, Home Language Chinese
Kanyisola Omogbai: "Scrabble" (Topaz Comprehensive College Lagos, Nigeria) – English as First Language

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Anshika Singla (Vivek High School, India) - English as First Language

"Happiness is a Habit"

Runners-up

Augustin Bailly (EAC School of Languages, France) - English as Second Language, Home Language French

"My Life and Dreams for this World"

Avni Singh (Podar World School Sama Vadodara, India) - English as Second Language, Home Languages Hindi and Tamil

"Dream Big, Achieve Bigger"

All winners have been notified via email about their success in the essay competition to claim their prizes which then will be dispatched in the coming week. Congratulations again! Well done! Keep on writing!

Special Mention

Aelfred Bowden: "Half a year in Japan" (Aberdeen/ UK) – English as First Language, Home Language Mandarin Chinese
Pei Yuan Erica Yip: "Zongzi (dumpling)" (Foon Yew High School Johor Bahru, Malaysia) - Home Language Chinese
Carys Lee Hui Ern: "My Life" (SMJK Chan Wa Seremban- Malaysia) – English as First Language
Benedict Okoroafor: "Personal Activities" (Dority International School Abayi, Nigeria) – Home Language Igbo, English as Second Language
Natalie Treu: "Life As A Resident Sibling" (Homeschooled/ USA) - English as First Language

Thank you for your wonderful essays! All these excellent essays will make a great reading and are an inspiration!

Please note, we will link to some other really good essays on our country pages, so be on the look out for them too! .. ;-) especially check our India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore pages as we will add new content there regularly.

Keep honing your writing skills while exploring the world around you, there is nothing better than sharing ideas and insights!

Our competition stats and the infographic for the 2022 competition are shown here:

Essay Competition Winners 2022
Infographic

And for those of you who want to compare to the 2021 stats:

Kids World Travel Guide essay winners 2021 - infographic

Now, if you are interested in our previous competition winners, check out their essays in the last years' listings below:

Competition Winners 2021:
"Hope"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Charles Baud from EAC School of Languages in France

"My One Hope"

Runners-up

Nofissa Chtaina from Specialized Institute of Applied Technology Sefrou in Morocco

"Back Again"

Yee Shuen Yap from SJK C Sentul in Malaysia "

What's Hope and What's My Hope"

Special Mention

Corrine Yang: "The Power of Hope" (Merivale High School, Canada)
Cojitha Senanayake: "The Beach: My Haven, My Hope"(St Thomas' College, Sri Lanka)
Angelos Kandilas: "Hope is the dream of an awake person" (Music School of Athens, Greece)
Akriti Lamba: "Anne Frank - A Story Of Hope" (Our Lady Queen of the Missions School, India)
Nischal Samrat: "Life, an Opportunity" (Sudarshan Vidya Mandir, India)

Competition Winners 2020:
"My Country"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Xin Yee Lim from Chung Hwa One Primary Chinese School in Penang/Malaysia

"Malaysia, My Beloved Country"

Runners-up

Arianna Machancoses da Gama Rose from Runnymede College in Spain

"Karibu Kenya"

Avni Singh from The Indian Academy in Uttar Pradesh/India

"The Land of Clouds"

Special Mention

Ihor Kravchenko: "The Country of My Dreams" (Saint Joseph School, Lebanon)
Srikoustubh Karanam: "My Country - Invincible India" (Overseas Family School, Singapore)
Rizqin Nasuha Mohamed Ridzuan: "The Country of My Dreams" (Artistic Strategies Academy, Singapore)
Parker Hadley: "Florida to Alaska: A Big Change" (Raven Homeschool, USA)
Mitchell Kuhn: "Cape Vultures" (Homeschool, South Africa)
Matthew Borg: "About My Home Country" (Stella Maris College, Malta)
Leila El Baba: "Japan - The Country of My Dreams" (Šiauliai Centro Primary School, Lithuania)
Regina Chiu: "My Host Country Singapore" (Saint Joseph's Institution International School, Singapore)

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Tram Dang from Kagamino Junior High School in Japan

"My First Home - Vietnam"

Runners-Up

Matin Wirasena from Mentary Intercultural School Bintaro in Indonesia

"Indonesia: My Beloved Homeland, The Emerald of The Equator"

Luisa Locatelli from EAC School of Languages in France

"Mexico versus France"

Special Mention

Luca Ciripitca: "Moldova" (Sutton Grammar School, UK)
Ashley Tay: "My Unique Home" (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, Singapore)
Alina Kiedos: "Romanies in Poland" (English Language Studio, Poland)
Tana Tahira Valmond: "My Country Dominica" (Dominica Grammar School, Dominica)
Muhammad Imad Khan: "Trees" (Islamia Children Academy, Pakistan)
Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan: "The Crossroads of My Life" (California Montessori Project, USA) - What a wonderful achievement now in the Senior Category! Read his winning essay from 2019 in the Junior Category here.

Essay Competition Winners
2019: 'The Gift of Languages'

Age Category: 8-11 years

Winner

Zachary Ming Zhi Tan from St. Joseph Institution International Elementary School in Singapore

'My Journey to Explore the Gift of the Chinese Language'

Runner-Up

Emily Bates from Wales/UK (Homeschooled)

'My Language Adventures'

Age Category 12-15 years

Winner

Tristan Kuhn from South Africa (Home educated)

'For the Love of Linguae'

Runner-Up

Lana Labudović from Ladimirevci Primary School in Croatia

'The Beauty of Languages'

Special Prize

Javier Yung from Chung Cheng High School in Singapore

'Si+nglish= ...English?'

Essay Competition Winners
2018: 'My Favourite Festival'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Vidhyuth Viswanathan from Urbana Sugarloaf Elementary School, USA

'Diwali Festival of Lights'

Read his essay here.

Runner-Up

Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan from California Montessori Project, India/USA

'Diwali'

Read his essay here.

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Nuthara Karunarathna from Lyceum International School, Sri Lanka

'Vesak Day'

Read her essay here.

Runner-Up

Javier Yung from Singapore

'Moon Cake Festival'

Read his essay here.

We really enjoyed all your entries, so please do not give up on your dream if you want to become a writer but your essay was not chosen for publication this time.

Never give up! Keep on writing and honing your skills and join in our next competition! ... And for some of you we will have a special treat, so keep our site bookmarked and you might hear from us regarding a special publication of your entry on another page on this site. Cheers!

Essay Competition Winners
2017: 'My Favourite Holiday'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Jolin Boh from Singapore, Ngee Ann Primary School

'Penang'

Runners-Up

Layla Affhalter from the USA, Homeschooled

'My Switzerland'

Lilou Ferron from the UK, Dulwich Hamlet Junior School

'My Bolivia'

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Nuthara Karunarathna from Sri Lanka, Lyceum International School

'Then and Now'

Runners-Up

Ishanshika Arora from India, Sri Venkateshwar International School

'All Round Trip to Canada'

Sanjana Guruprasad from the UAE,

'Incredible India'

All winners will be notified via email about their success in the essay competition to claim their prizes which then will be dispatched in the coming week. Congratulations again! Well done! Keep on writing!

Essay Competition Winners
2016: 'My Country'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Matilda Rumball-Smith from New Zealand, Ngunguru School

'New Zealand - Aoteorea'

Read the award-winning essay here

Runners-up

Kundana Panuganti from the USA, Eason Elementary School

'My Country India'

Poem Schway from the USA, Christa McAuliffe School

'Austria - The Wonder'

Read her essay here.

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Sree Panuganti from the USA, Timberline School

'Incredible India'

Read the award-winning essay here

Runner-up

Ana Sofia Moreno from South Africa, Curro Schools

'My Country South Africa'

Image credits on essay competition winners page: Shutterstock.com and own images

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