Focusing on gratitude in times of change is so important! Keep writing, Abigail - your tiny poems may change the world some day.
I would like to give an honourable mention to Abigail, whose mastery of the haiku form is truly admirable.
#FAMILY HISTORY WRITING CHALLENGE SERIES#
Runner-Up: Abigail, Urmston Grammar SchoolĪ series of Haiku about what I’ve learned to appreciate over this past year and a half. I admire your writing, Kandace, and wish you all the best. Kandace is an extraordinary writer, and their directness and focus speaks to the experience of someone who has experienced far more difficulties than most people their age. That we should not consider who receives healthcare based on what they can offer society - rather, we should focus on empathy and our shared humanity. Ultimately, the piece makes an excellent point about who is “deserving” of access to healthcare - that is to say, everyone. Kandace’s piece also got me thinking about how much better the NHS may have been able to handle the pandemic, had they not deported many of their best staff. I hope you will learn this lesson too.Īs an immigrant myself, I am particularly sensitive to conversations around how immigrants supposedly burden local healthcare, and especially because I am white-passing and trained myself to speak with an English accent, I am often struck by how people never seem to mean me when they talk about this “burden”. Empathy not only helps me understand other people’s feelings but also my own, to respond appropriately to situations. Second, can you imagine an immigrant’s perspective seeking healthcare in a foreign country in a pandemic? Following my embarrassing answer to the first question, I tried to put myself into their shoes and realized if I were in a foreign country during the pandemic surrounded by people different from me, I would feel terrified.įinally, how might considering different perspectives help you be more empathetic and therefore considerate? Ironically, I want to thank you for your racist remark, which has made me reflect on my own assumptions and set me on the journey to developing the skill of empathy. I would now like to ask you three questions.įirst, why do you think immigrants should be treated differently? As I was considering this, I realized my lack of encounter with people of different backgrounds or life experiences to me meant I implicitly assumed people dissimilar to me somehow didn’t deserve the same things. Later, I saw an Instagram post from the Black Lives Matter movement about critically thinking through my own privileges and assumptions. Your comment made me uncomfortable, but I wasn’t sure why. I’ve been thinking lots about a comment you made the other day that immigrants burden local healthcare which should prioritise people born here. So, may we present: the winner, the runners-up and the final shortlist… Whittling them down to a final 10 was immensely difficult.īut we did, and Kayla has made her decision. On all sorts of subjects, in all manner of forms, entries were poignant, funny and very creative. We were overwhelmed with the standard of the submissions we received. More than 800 students from all over the world responded to our challenge, helping raise an amazing £825 for UNICEF.
We enlisted Kayla Feldman, professional writer, director and 2017 Genesis Poetry Slam winner, to be our expert judge. Kayla's work, which tackles themes of identity, family history, mental illness and womanhood, has been commissioned by JW3, Canada Water Theatre and more, and she has regularly featured at London's top spoken word events.įor every submission received, we pledged to make a donation to UNICEF, whose groundbreaking work helps children across the world access essential education. We wanted to end the school year on a high by inviting students to think about what they’d gained over the course of the pandemic, rather than what they’d lost.įor the ‘Writing to Reflect’ challenge, students were asked to submit a creative writing piece detailing a skill or life lesson they’d learnt outside the classroom and how they thought it would benefit their future. Though the pandemic was tough for everyone, it also inspired compassion, contemplation and true camaraderie in the face of hardship. In celebration of National Writing Day 2021, we put together a summer writing challenge to encourage reflection after a difficult year.
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