The Peace in My Neighborhood

Essay Writing Competition 2025
Category: 8 - 11 years
- Runner-Up -

Runner-up Essay: "The Peace in My Neigborhood"

by Paige Jung from Canada

This essay was submitted in the Kids World Travel Guide Writing Competition 2025 in the Junior Category 8 - 11 years.

The Peace in My Neighborhood

The peace in our neighborhood is like Monet’s Water Lilies I saw during my trip to Paris with mom and dad. Calm and ever so soothing.

Our neighborhood carries the same feeling of peaceful harmony. The diversity we have is like the brushstrokes of Monet mixing and creating harmony in the painting making it so special and unique.

I have a best friend to walk to school with whose family is from Iran. As we walk through the cool air, we share the smell of morning dew. It is a reminder to us that we are blessed to find peace even in the simplest thing.

At school, we are taught about equality and human rights which long time ago children didn’t have much chance to learn about. The value we learn through these lessons are about how equality creates peace and shapes history and the future. We learn that giving equal chance to everyone creates diversity, perhaps more friendship!

By the time we walk back from school, the smell of the sun-drenched trees welcomes me back to my home. The smell is similar to the hugs we share in our neighborhood.

When someone in my family is sick, they knock on our door with a warm bowl of soup and a kind smile. A bowl of soup might seem small but in it, it is filled with thoughtfulness and caring hearts.

The peace in our neighborhood is like the dew in the morning and the hugs from the woods and the warmth of a bowl of soup. We share peace by sharing and caring. I learn and I am happy to be part of it.

Our differences and cultures are not only accepted but appreciated. Just like Monet’s water lilies and a hug, the peace in our neighborhood fills up our community like a bowl of warm soup.

Congratulations, Paige! Your awesome essay has been selected as the runner-up in the 8–11 years age category!

Thank you for your beautifully written and heartfelt essay. Your comparison of community peace to Monet’s "Water Lilies" painting is both highly original and deeply moving. Your essay captures the essence of peaceful co-living which is mutual respect and an acceptance of differences and diversity.

What a moving demonstration of kindness and empathy! A truly touching and thoughtful reflection! Well done, and once again, congratulations!

Paige is a 9-year-old student at Highlands Elementary School in Canada. English is her additional language, Korean is her home language.