English News

Fresh Words Finalists

Last Thursday, I was one of the fortunate students to be selected as a finalist in the Fresh Words Young Writers Competition under the Year 10-12 Short Story Section. Alongside me, five other Nossal students, Asmetha Ashok Kumar, Elita Pinto, Riya Rajesh, Thrisha Srinivasan and Jennifer Nguyen were also named as finalists in either the Short Story or Poetry section for their respective age groups. It was wonderful to see so many Nossal students represent the school at this awards ceremony at the newly built Bunjil Place.

After some refreshments, all finalists were seated ready for the presentation. As audience members started to trickle in, which included parents and friends, it was a pleasant surprise for us to see our English teachers, Ms Mackin, Ms Lee-Ack, Dr Schroor and Ms Chapple who were there to support us.

We were treated to two performances, one of which was a captivating musical performance on the hand-pan, an instrument which none of us had seen or heard before. Also, Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, a spoken word artist, inspired us with stories of her life experiences and recited one of her poems titled “Hands”, motivating us to continue our writing.

After Mayor Geoff Ablett’s welcoming speech and the performances, the awards were presented. It was with great pride, we watched our fellow Nossalonians, Jennifer, Asmetha and Riya read their pieces. When they announced that Riya had won in the Year 10-12 Poetry section, it was the icing on the cake. Overall, it was a great event and an achievement Nossal should be proud of.

Nithiya Pathmasiri - Class of 2017