National Achievement for Keisha in Year 13.
Writing about Holodomor (death by starvation), the 1932 – 1933 Ukrainian famine is estimated to have killed seven million Ukrainian men, women and children over an 18-month period while Joesph Stalin led the Soviet Union. Keisha’s essay analyses whether Walter Duranty, a New York Times journalist who famously denounced the famine, was reporting accurately.
Keisha’s powerful essay caught the attention of the Lead Judge, Professor Olga Onuch, who praised Keisha’s hard work, “This is a very interesting essay and the author should be proud of their hard work and research. This essay made good use of citations and sources. Congratulations.”
Mr Oakman, Head of Saint Felix, also celebrated Keisha’s success, stating, “Keisha has demonstrated an excellent commitment to her research and writing, achieving a top 10 position on a national scale. The Holodomor is a complex and poignant subject, so well done, Keisha, this is an excellent achievement.”
In discussing her achievement, Keisha said: “I am very grateful for this opportunity that arose from the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, I feel as though I learnt a lot through the process of building an academic essay confronting harsh realities of the famine faced in Ukraine and am very appreciative towards the organisation for bringing light to this issue and am ultimately very pleased with my result of coming 4th out of 150 other applicants.”
Mr Farrands, Head of History, was thrilled with Keisha’s achievement, “The History Department is delighted with Keisha’s success which is thoroughly deserved. She is an excellent student who embraced the challenge presented by this competition and worked extremely hard to produce a well-researched and comprehensive response to the question. She can take great pride and confidence from placing so highly in such a strong field and use the experience going forward as motivation to achieve her target grades in her finals next summer. A job well done.”
With entries from Sixth Form Students from schools or colleges in the UK, candidates could write and submit a 1500 – 2000 word essay about the Holodomor. The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain conducts the annual competition in partnership with the Nadia Diuk Memorial Programme.
Well done Keisha on your incredible achievement.