In September, I went to Oxford for the John Locke Global Essay Competition Finals after being shortlisted from 19,000 candidates. I competed in the Philosophy category answering the question ‘In what sense are you the same person today that you were when you were 10?’

The finals weekend consisted of lectures and seminars from academics from both Oxford and Cambridge Universities as well as lunches with the chairman of examiners at Oxford University. The pinnacle of the weekend was the awards ceremony which was held at the Sheldonian Theatre followed by a gala dinner at the Ashmolean Museum.

Within the awards ceremony we were given a speech by Pano Kanelos who is the founder of The University of Austin in Texas, which is set for its first academic year in September 2024; in his speech Palo explained his view on ‘what is an essay and what makes up one?’ I was awarded a commendation for my essay and was very grateful for the experience.