My Life and Dreams For This World

Essay Writing Competition 2022
Category: 12 - 15 years
- Runner-up -

Runner-up in the essay contest 2022 is "My Life and Dreams for this World" written by Augustin Bailly

My Life and Dreams for this World

Hi, I'm Augustin, a fourteen-year-old French boy living near Besançon, a town in the East of France. Today, I'm going to talk about my life: a typical day, my favourite activities, what makes me happy, my plans for the future and values that guide me as I go along.

I usually get up at six, get ready, then catch the bus to school. I have my day of classes and lunch there. In the late afternoon I go home, get homework done, then go to one or two of my extracurricular activities: judo, football, percussion and English lessons. After dinner, it is usually a bit of schoolwork revision before bedtime. Of all the activities I have done, I cannot say which I prefer as there are so many I have yet to discover.

Thus said, I have a preference for "extreme" sports like canyoning, kitesurfing and mountain biking. However, my favourite is actually judo which I have been doing for about eleven years now and I still love it. In judo, despite being a fighting sport, there are a lot of values which I uphold faithfully: politeness, courage, friendship, self-control, sincerity, modesty, honour and respect.

I find it wonderful because in this field it does not matter who you are as everybody has the right to respect; to quote Jigoro Kano, the man who invented judo: "The idea of considering others as enemies can only be madness and a source of regression."

This quote makes me think of the war between Russia and Ukraine and how by fighting like little children, their dispute makes the whole world "regress": this conflict has become a source of tension among other nations. I would like all countries to adopt the values of judo so that all children and families around the world can live in peace.

Sport activities aside, what makes me happy is to be able to help my classmates by being a class representative (spokesperson for the students) and find solutions when teachers and students disagree. For my future, I am starting to think about it. I would like to be a pilot, flying planes for humanitarian purposes, to help people in difficulty fleeing wars or to save those with urgent health needs. Of course, flights are one of the fastest ways to facilitate exchanges between countries and to allow different cultures to meet in person. I love helping people, and I think that if the whole world learns to appreciate one another better, it would be more united, and a lot of problems would disappear.

I really believe in the Chinese proverb that says: "Peace and tranquility, that is happiness". It neatly summarizes what, to me, an ideal life should be.

In the Age category 12 - 15 years, Augustin's essay "My Life and Dreams for this World" was chosen as one of the runners-ups.

This wonderful essay shares some of the student's favourite activities and what makes him happy. With his explanations he expands the theme into a deeper reflection of values and his deep wish for a peaceful world.

Well done, Augustin! Keep on writing - we are certain we will hear more from you! Congratulations!

Augustin Bailly is a student at the EAC School of Languages. His home language is French, English is an additional language.