Vice-Chancellor's Office

Writing Competition Results – The Judges’ Decisions*

By Willa McDonald

The Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition may not have the reach of television’s Australian Idol, whose heats draw thousands of competitors wherever they are run, but we’re sure it was just as difficult to judge.

The task of reading the essays submitted to the competition this year was enlightening and enjoyable, but picking the winners was not easy. The topic – What mattered then, what matters now – attracted an assortment of essays demonstrating that staff and students at Macquarie think deeply about a wide variety of subjects.
The winning entry in the Undergraduate category was written by Stephen Phillip Leason from the Department of Ancient History. His essay ‘But I still don’t get it’, created much discussion among the judges because it had clearly been written by a mature person, able to bring the wisdom of life experience to bear on his writing.

That instantly disadvantaged the younger competitors. But, the competition is open to all students and age is no ground for discrimination. Stephen’s essay – which dealt with the complexities of race discrimination from a personal point of view – was the standout entry in the category and in all fairness deserved to win first prize.

Second prize went to Nadine Samy, Bachelor of Science, ELS, whose thoughtful essay began with the question: “If I had the opportunity to meet a woman from the past, what would we talk about?” Nadine, who grew up in Asia, pondered the expectations and experiences of women across the globe.

The third place winner was Eliza Stewart, Bachelor of Environmental Management, ELS, for ‘Growing up in the '80s’. This charming essay created an evocative picture of Australian suburban childhood, answering the brief of the competition by drawing a contrast with the writer’s later experiences as a Macquarie undergraduate.

The section for students for whom English is a Second Language also drew interesting responses, many of which were deeply personal. After much discussion, we decided one of the two $1500 prizes on offer should be awarded to Debbie Marie Y Bautista, a PhD student with the Centre for Research in Maths and Science Education, for her essay ‘Heroes’. Debbie’s first language is Filipino (Tagalog dialect) and her essay was well written, well structured and demonstrated a clear theme within the topic of the competition – her desire to educate Filipino children to give them the chance of a better life.

The other prize in the ESL category was awarded to Hana Jaroka for her essay ‘Europe before and after Reunification’. Hana, whose native language is Czech, is studying for a Certificate in Language with the Division of Humanities. Although Hana’s essay demonstrated the considerable challenges for overseas students of achieving a finely-wrought essay, she won the judges over with her informed yet humble approach to her topic.

If the Postgraduate entries are reflective of the range of research being done by students, then Macquarie is the winner. First prize went to Alison Irving, Postgraduate Certificate in Special Education (Learning Difficulties) MUSEC, for her article ‘From Pepys to Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Alison’s essay examined the manipulation of news in modern society, demonstrating paragraph by paragraph the importance of a “free press”.

Sharyn Brady’s entry ‘In Which We Discover What’s What’ was an original contemplation on the word “what”. Her essay played with words to make a point about the interplay between language, thought and meaning. Perhaps not surprisingly, Sharyn is studying an MA in English Literature with the Department of English.

Third prize in the postgraduate category went to Miriam Verbeek, who is studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Editing with the Department of Linguistics. Using the example of unthinking religiosity as the springboard for her thinking, Miriam’s essay ‘A Piece of Lace’ asked why human beings defend social rules that have little to do with our welfare.

The hardest section to judge was the Staff category because the standard of entries was so high. We judges tussled over excellent pieces, ranging from crocodiles in Northern Australia to the challenges of working with children with severe disabilities, before settling on the final prizewinners.

First prize was awarded to George Parsons, Department of Modern History, for ‘Accessing the Past’. George’s essay began with a discussion of the dangers of antiquarianism and anachronism in viewing the past, before settling on hope as the commonality that links people of both past and present.

Andrew Simpson of the Division of Environmental and Life Sciences won second prize for his essay ‘Eureka Flag and Significance for Things Past’, which discussed the heritage industry and its manipulation of the concept of “significance” for its own ends.

Third prize in the staff category went to Fleur Fallon for ‘The Chinese Question’. Fleur is Acting Executive Officer to the Pro Vice-Chancellor (International).  Her essay began with an intriguing anecdote about an overseas student from China who bemoaned that there were too many Chinese studying here at Macquarie. The essay traced an individual’s quest for information about her Chinese heritage, while deliberating on the cultural importance of education for Chinese people.

* The writing competition was judged by Professor Steven Thurgate, Emeritus Professor Pam Peters and Dr Willa McDonald. See ‘Meet the Judges’ http://www.vc.mq.edu.au/writing-competition/index.html for more information