Filipino Student Bags First Prize in Int’l Essay Contest
THE WRITE STUFF – A Filipino student is making us proud overseas through his writing prowess. Twenty-two-year old Kent Harry Perez Cumpio won first prize in the Youth Category of the 2018 annual Essay Contest for Young People, which is organized by the Goi Peace Foundation.
The essay writing competition revolved around the theme “The Change I Want to Make.”
A total of 21,705 essay entries from 162 countries were screened by the jury. Kent was able to stand out through his passionate appeal to fellow Filipino students, persuading them to help the Philippines by staying in the country after graduating college.
Be the change
Kent also wants to invent a small biodigester that converts food waste into gas, which can be used for heating and cooking. He said that creating the change you want to make and making a difference to people’s lives don’t have to involve complicated concepts.
As the first prize winner, Kent took home a cash prize of $900. He was also flown to Tokyo to read his essay in front of the audience of the annual Goi Peace Forum at Nikkei Hall. Diplomats such as Princess Lalla Hasnaa of Morocco, who was there to accept the Goi Peace Award for her outstanding contributions towards environmental education and sustainable tourism in her home country, were present during his speech. The Japanese Minister of Education presented Kent with the winner’s certificate.
Kent, as part of his Tokyo trip, was able to meet young Japanese people like him and exchange ideas with them.
