“I truly never imagined I would win an award.”
For Bobo, a Pre-BC student at MIC, writing an academic essay in English initially felt overwhelming. Yet through persistence and deep engagement with the process, she not only strengthened her academic writing skills but also experienced the powerful reward of personal growth and achievement.
Meanwhile, Sunnie, a Grade 12 BC student at MIC navigating the pressures of university applications, remained committed to completing the competition. Her perseverance culminated in receiving the Scholar Laureate Award, the competition’s highest honour—an outcome she described as both unexpected and deeply gratifying.
In the first round of the Immerse Education Essay Competition, 27 students from MIC’s BC Department (including the Pre-BC programme) were recognised for their outstanding performance. Among them, Bobo and Sunnie received the Scholar Laureate Award, while nine students earned the Academic Excellence Award — including 5 students from the Pre-BC programme and 4 from the BC programme.
All remaining participants were listed on the official Honour Roll, reflecting the cohort’s consistently strong academic calibre.
The Immerse Education Essay Competition is a selective international academic contest organised by Immerse Education, an institution founded in 2012 and renowned for delivering immersive learning experiences at world-class universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, and the University of Sydney.
With its rigorous evaluation criteria and expert judging panels comprising academics and industry professionals, the competition assesses essays based on critical thinking, research depth, argumentation, academic structure, and linguistic accuracy—ensuring that originality and intellectual rigour are genuinely recognised.
This marked the first time MIC students participated in an international academic essay competition in a structured and systematic way. Their performance exceeded expectations and impressed supervising teachers Ms. Deirdre Weary and Mr. David Derokey.
“Over 7,000 students from more than 4,000 schools worldwide took part,” Ms. Weary shared. “More than half of our students received awards—many of them from the Pre-BC programme. For these students, this was their first experience with such a demanding academic competition.”
As AI-assisted writing tools become increasingly prevalent, cultivating genuine academic competence and integrity has never been more critical. This was a key motivation behind encouraging students to participate in the competition.
“Students must learn early how to articulate and defend their own ideas,” Ms. Weary emphasised. Through the full academic writing cycle—research, drafting, citation, and revision—students developed a solid foundation in academic English and gained confidence through iterative improvement.
“These immersive competitions offer students a meaningful and equitable platform to demonstrate their abilities in university applications,” she added. “They challenge assumptions about student potential and align closely with our educational mission: unlocking inner capability through challenge.”
Throughout the writing process, she also witnessed firsthand the student's growth. "One student was initially significantly affected by language barriers, but through continuous revisions and refinements, they made remarkable progress and ultimately achieved excellent results. Their excitement and growth deeply moved me, reaffirming that with sufficient effort, linguistic barriers need not be an obstacle to success."
Initially, many students were hesitant. Academic writing poses challenges even in one’s first language, let alone in a second. However, through guided classroom discussions and carefully scaffolded support, students selected research topics with real-world relevance, including global health threats and technological entrepreneurship.
As their research deepened, so did their engagement. Students began to take ownership of their learning, demonstrating increased motivation, autonomy, and intellectual curiosity.
Throughout the process, teachers acted as mentors rather than directors. Emphasising inquiry-based learning, Ms. Weary encouraged interdisciplinary thinking, while Mr. Derokey guided students to move beyond superficial analysis and engage critically with complex issues.
One of the most significant challenges lay in mastering academic citation and referencing. Through structured feedback, multiple revisions, and consistent guidance, students gradually developed a clearer understanding of academic conventions and scholarly responsibility.
At MIC, we believe education is defined not merely by results, but by transformation. By stepping into authentic academic challenges such as the Immerse Education Essay Competition, students are encouraged to leave their comfort zones, think independently, and grow with confidence.
