Monash Prize 2013 Winner Speaks!!!

 The Monash Prize 2013 was an essay competition that took place all over the country, organized by the Monash University in Australia. There were about 65 schools that participated. In the essay, we basically had to be really creative and talk about what we thought would be the next greatest scientific discovery that would greatly influence the world as we know it, and so I wrote about space travel.

I addressed some of the various issues that would undoubtedly arise with this venture, and how exactly it would assist the human civilization in terms of sustainable development and technological advancements. I wrote about the ways this could be accomplished, how governments could raise funds, and simply why I found the idea so appealing and so viable.

I also talked about how certain aspects of chemical engineering could be incorporated into this undertaking. I tried to make it both creative and grounded to reality, which is why I attempted not to make any sort of unfeasible and impractical suggestions. 

Overall, it was a very fun experience, and it allowed everyone to be incredibly creative with their ideas, some of which were absolutely brilliant. I'm really glad I got this opportunity to show my writing skills, and if I ever come across anything like this competition in the future, I'll be sure to do it!

Rachana Gollapudi

(IBDP Grade XI)