Oxley Student Receives a Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize

The Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize (SOAP) is an annual competition open to all students enrolled in Years 9 - 12. SOAP offers young Victorians the opportunity to explore Australia's wartime and peacekeeping history and join a fully funded study tour to significant war heritage sites. 

We are thrilled to inform the College community that Year 10 student Roman Young is one of just twelve Victorian students to win this prestigious prize in 2023! Roman researched, planned and wrote an essay in response to the prompt, What does the ‘ANZAC spirit’ mean today in a diverse and multicultural Australia? To what extent can your definition be related to the events and peoples of World War I?.

For his fine efforts, Roman has been awarded the opportunity to participate in a fully-funded ten day study tour to Türkiye in 2024 with other prize winners from around Australia. He was presented with his prize by the Deputy Premier, Ben Carroll, and Minister for Veterans, Natalie Suleyman. Congratulations, Roman! 

Roman is the fourth Oxley student to be awarded the prize, after former students Megan Hallang (2014), Kimberley Sambrooks (2016) and Sarah Jones (2016). 

Reflecting on his achievement, Roman had this to say:

Earlier in 2023, I applied for the Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize, a competition open to all students in Years 9 to 12, the prize being a 10-day, all expenses paid study trip to Türkiye. We were provided a prompt to respond to in any format you wished. The prompt was 'What does the ANZAC spirit mean today in a diverse and multicultural Australia? To what extent can your definition be related to the events and peoples of World War I?'. Some submissions included video presentations, songs, artworks, and more. I decided to write an essay, focusing on the core values behind the ANZAC spirit, as well as the importance of drawing on these values to create a positive impact on our society today. I had spoken to Mr White about entering the competition and he helped me to unpack the question and find useful resources. After a long wait, due to the change of premier and the ongoing situation in Türkiye, an email came announcing that I had won the prize and was invited to a presentation evening in the city on Wednesday 16 November. We listened to a few speeches, received our awards, and met the other 11 prize winners, and of course, enjoyed some delicious food. We were informed that our tour would (hopefully) be taking place during April 2024. I am really looking forward to the trip as it will be a great opportunity to further my understanding of World War I and share my passion for History with the other applicants. I would highly recommend entering this competition, as it is an amazing opportunity to be recognised for your passion towards history and our military history.

If you would like to participate in next year’s competition, please see Mr White or Roman for more details. It is a great way to learn more about the sacrifices of Australians during the Great War, to meet other enthusiastic students of History in Victoria, and to improve your historical skills. You never know where your passion can take you!

Stephen White 

Head of Humanities and Commerce