Winner of The John Locke Essay Competition

TISB Grade 12 student, Samik, recently got awarded a high commendation for his essay on Politics in the John Locke Institute essay competition. The competition attracts thousands of entries every year, with entries from all over the world and across eight subject categories.

My primary objective was to hone my research, analysis, and writing skills under the benchmark of an international forum – Samik, Grade 12.

This year’s John Locke Essay Competition was attended by 2740 contestants from 80 countries around the world. Contestants had to submit their essays on different prompts related to their choice by the 15th of July, 2020. Samik wrote his essay in the Politics category based on the prompt: “American citizens give away more than $300 billion each year in charitable donations. Only a tiny fraction of this (less than 0.001%) is donated to federal, state, and local governments. Politicians claim that they spend taxpayers' money efficiently, to accomplish the most good with the budgets at their disposal. But if this were true wouldn't governments be able to compete more successfully with private charities? What are the implications of your answer?”

The essays were judged by faculty from Harvard, Oxford, Princeton, and the University of Chicago. “Having my writing judged by a panel of esteemed judges has been very gratifying for me and has inspired me to continue honing my research, critical thinking, and writing skills”, says Samik who received a high commendation in his category, placing him in the top 28 contestants. 

Samik believes that the John Locke Essay competition is a great way for students to explore their interests, and to sharpen their analytical and writing skills. “I know that our school has many phenomenal writers and hope this encourages my juniors to actively participate in such opportunities as well”, says Samik. 

To read more about the John Locke Essay Competition, visit the John Locke Institute’s website.