Aquinas College's Kaiden Moss-Moultrie was the top scorer in the senior division and overall winner of the 15th Laws of Life Essay Competition. She walked away with a $1,000 scholarship and a prize that was matched equally for her school.
University of The Bahamas' Chanae Barr, C.H. Reeves' Kevin Williams, Temple Christian School's Dwayne Small, and Tambearly International School's Terranique Burrows were winners in their respective categories.
They each also received a $1,000 scholarship as well as a prize of equal value for their respective schools. The coveted top awards for all the divisions were presented to 88 students from public and private schools, as well as local tertiary institutions.
Through essays and videos, participants demonstrated their understanding and application of the Laws of Life.
All participants selected one of the suggested Laws of Life for their division, explained its meaning, and offered personal insights, experiences and real-world examples of the law being applied. Some of the laws selected by the students were: "Help yourself by helping others", "Those who do good do well", "Success feeds on itself and creates more success", and "Make yourself necessary to the world and mankind will give you bread".
With The Bahamas celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence, the topics selected for this year's competition focused on the words vision, progress, positivity, love, wisdom, learning, and success.
Participants applied their writing and video production skills to convey their ideas on how progress is fueled by diligence and perseverance.
Dr. Andrew Serazin, president of Templeton World Charity Foundation, congratulated the students on their participation in what he called the "super bowl" event of the foundation. He spoke to the purpose of the competition and its impact on students and our community.
"The [Laws of Life] can help us respond to a Facebook post, or a WhatsApp chat, a TikTok or even something like ChatGPT. But here in the real world, more importantly, you can use the Laws of Life to help a friend in need, or make a difficult decision in your life, or plan your own future. This year, the Laws of Life topics for all the individual divisions touched on aspects of how we can improve ourselves, and one common thread was that many essays included moving passages about the Bahamian journey to independence. These essays illustrate the vision of Sir John Templeton and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, not just to get by, but to flourish, as illustrated profoundly in the motto of the country, 'Forward, Upward, Onward, Together'," said Serazin at the award ceremony held on Thursday, June 8 at the Baha Mar Convention Center.
A joint venture initiative between Templeton World Charity Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training, the Laws of Life Essay and Video Competition aims to encourage students, through their writing and video production, to reflect upon and articulate how the Laws of Life shape their lives, guide their decisions, and engender personal growth and positive contributions to society.
The 2023 competition was launched in November 2022, closing this year in early May.
With approximately 1,700 entries obtained from students in grades five through 12, as well as students enrolled in local tertiary institutions, the markers and judges, officials say, faced the difficult task of selecting the winners from among an array of exceptional entries.
Since a digital format to the competition was introduced last year to increase the efficiency of the competition, students easily accessed the platform to register and submit their essays and videos. Anonymous evaluations were also carried out via the digital platform. Continuing its digital trend, this year's ceremony was also streamed live on the competition's social media platforms.
Minister of State for Education Zane Lightbourne praised the students for their efforts and commended the foundation for its work in the community.
"I am so proud of you, our young people, who, each year, are able to articulate your values and connect them to how your lives and the lives of others can be improved. I am grateful for the work of the Templeton World Charity Foundation and its commitment to ensuring that our students are positively challenged and [that they] ultimately carry on Sir John Templeton's overall vision of progress."
Templeton World Charity Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training officials say they are adamant about fostering the personal and intellectual growth of youth and are committed to playing a pivotal role in providing this empowering platform for young minds to shine.
KAIDEN MOSS-MOULTRIE'S LAWS OF LIFE WINNING ESSAY
Topic: "Success feeds on itself and creates more success"
Oprah Winfrey, the richest African American woman of the twentieth century, speaks openly about her life which can be easily coined, "from rags to riches". In her autobiography, she speaks of being raised in poverty and shares how, at every juncture of success in her life, she found an opportunity to do something greater, therefore experiencing more success. This is because success feeds on itself and creates more success. When one experiences success, it creates a feeling of satisfaction and influences the way we move forward. This development comes with greater confidence, and the desire to have the thrill that success brings repeated, becomes undeniable. Hence, the truth of this experience can be seen in various aspects of our lives, especially academically, corporately and nationally.
It is often been said that "education is the key to success" and I believe that success is the key to continuous education. By this, I mean that success in academics can become addictive and thereby lead to greater success. In my academic journey, I have found that previous successes were the catalyst for my present success, and makes me look forward to future academic successes. When I was a toddler, I was a "late bloomer" and so my parents believed that I was academically challenged. They were waiting for me to get older to be evaluated, but, in the meantime, sent me to speech therapy. They say that once I began speaking, I never stopped. My confidence in speaking grew as my speech became clearer and today I enjoy public speaking. I can remember my teachers working with me and encouraging me, and I can definitely remember the first time that I was acknowledged in an assembly for doing well. After this assembly, I knew that this was what I always wanted. My first goal was to be on the honor roll, then the dean's list, followed by the vice principal's list. Presently, I am on the principal's list, but as a senior in high school, my goals have shifted to another aspect of success - ensuring that along with these excellent grades, I am well rounded, so that I can attain the best scholarship for college. Yes, the more success I experience academically, the higher I believe I can go.
Although I am not employed as yet, I have the finest example of how success feeds on itself and creates more success. My father was not amongst the smartest in high school, and, as a matter of fact, due to poverty, a sick mother and an absent father, the odds were stacked against him. He graduated without any accolades, but eventually landed a job at one of the largest hotels in The Bahamas. He started as a valet parker and was quickly promoted. That began a chain of promotions that continued until he resigned many years later as vice president of operations. He shares this testimony often and tells of how, at every level, he had a yearning to get to a higher level. He says that his success was not just vertical, but horizontal, thus this gave him the desire to venture out and start his own business.
Finally, as a proud Bahamian, it is easy to see how the success that The Bahamas is experiencing as a nation, is because of previous successes. Just a few days ago, we celebrated Majority Rule Day. We recognized some of the events that led to this milestone like the Burma Road Riot where laborers wanted equal pay for equal work, no matter their color. Also, the Suffrage Movement where women demonstrated publicly for the right to vote, and even Black Tuesday when, in the House of Assembly, Sir Lynden Pindling threw the mace outside of the window saying, "This is the symbol of authority and authority on this island belongs to the people and the people are outside." The success of Majority Rule Day gave Bahamians the encouragement to strive for further success, and on July 10, 1973, The Bahamas attained independence from British rule. Since those successes, we have attained many other successes that have made us the country we are today. We have had economic successes as we remain a popular tourist destination with tourism; educational successes with The College of The Bahamas attaining university status; and lastly, in the area of health as our government clinics and hospitals are some of the best healthcare facilities in this region.
In conclusion, Sir John Templeton, author of "Discovering the Laws of Life", once said, "Success is a process of continually seeking answers to new questions." When the questions or challenges life presents are successfully answered, new and more advanced questions and challenges are presented, and as we continue this process, we advance. If we are just answering the same questions or challenges, we will find ourselves stuck. Whether we successfully answer life's questions in academics, the corporate world, or in our nation, the success we experience feeds on itself and causes even more success.
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