Congratulations to Year 2 student Ash, who was recently shortlisted for the prestigious John Locke Institute essay competition.
The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. The essay competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.
This is the second year in a row that a Cirencester College student has been shortlisted in this competition.
Ash, who studies A-levels in Fine Art, History, and Philosophy and Religion, was told about the competition by their history lecturer, and decided to enter as they were intrigued by the experience and enhance their university application.
Ash chose the question: According to Bertrand Russell, “Hitler is an outcome of Rousseau; Roosevelt and Churchill of Locke.” To what extent is he correct?
They explained “I chose this question because we study Hitler as part of our history course, and I was interested to explore beyond this and look into how we can make comparisons between different historical figures. Furthermore, I found researching the philosophers Rousseau and Locke interesting as it gave me the opportunity to tie in the key skills developed through my studies in A-level Philosophy and Religion and observe how philosophy can influence history.
I found the writing process quite different to an A-level style history essay, as it was much lengthier in comparison and required a lot of research. However, I feel that this has given me the opportunity to develop my ability to evaluate different perspectives and engage in independent research which will prove valuable for university study in the future.
I was really surprised to find out I was shortlisted, as I know that the competition is worldwide and quite challenging. Knowing I had worked hard on it too, and it paid off, made me feel pleased to find out I was shortlisted!”
Fiona, Ash’s History lecturer, said “I am immensely proud of Ash being shortlisted for the prestigious John Locke Institute essay competition, which is a testament to their hard work and academic curiosity. It’s brilliant to see yet another Cirencester College student being recognised for going beyond the confines of the curriculum and challenging themselves in the process.”
For more information on this story, please contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
