“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas Edison
After a memorable visit to Greece, Dawn Wong Yeok Hei, represented Han Chiang High School in the recent KGL English Olympiad Competition and excelled with flying colours. Amidst stiff competition from her peers, she not only excelled but clinched the 3rd position. After her success, she was interviewed about her road to success.
Competition
Upon hearing the groundbreaking news of her success, she felt satisfied, yet slightly disappointed, as she was expecting more from herself. When asked to elaborate on the competition, she revealed that the competition included reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and writing, all to be completed within a single hour. The writing segment came with a specific prompt and a strict word limit of 300 words. She also stated that parents were not permitted to be present throughout the whole journey.
Strategy
During the competition, Dawn’s strategy was to breeze through the first section, allowing her valuable time to craft a narrative that aligned with the given prompt. She confessed to relying on her gut for some challenging questions. Furthermore, she shared that she initially drafted her essay in pencil, later transcribing it in pen when time was running short, enabling her to make necessary corrections until she achieved a satisfactory outcome.
Acknowledgements
Through the competition, Dawn found out her true writing style is more romantic rather than rational. Besides that, Dawn came to a realisation that the essays she enjoys writing most revolve around themes where she can write freely.
Struggles
As for the challenges Dawn encountered during the competition, the time limit was the biggest one. Usually, Dawn takes her time exploring themes, ideas, and styles for her writing until she finds something flawless. However, due to the time limit, her perfectionism and indecisiveness had to be suppressed to finish the essay in time, even though she knew she could have done better.
Gains
Dawn had gained tons of experience, and a broadened worldview from the competition, as it was held in Greece, which was a place she knew little about. Therefore, Dawn was mind-blown by how greatly Greece exceeded her expectations, making her feel surreal and foreign in every moment as if it was a wake-up to her usual predictable and mundane life. Dawn believes one of the greatest pleasures of life is to explore new environments and opportunities while collecting new experiences amidst the journeys.
Impact
After participating in the competition, Dawn was made more aware of the many aspects where she has room for improvement. Thus, Dawn will take the competition as an experience to further improve upon. With her amplified urge to learn, Dawn hopes to become even better and break free from the constraints of her little pond.
Future
If there are any English competitions held in the future that are eligible for Dawn, best believe she’ll be participating and aiming to triumph. Dawn hopes to continue collecting achievements for an outstanding certificate to get into her dream college.
Dawn has only managed to come this far through years of hard work and determination in constantly improving herself. Thus, she serves as a role model for all students to always strive to be better, as well as to try and experience new things, just like how she did, which brought a lot of benefits.
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