Write to Win: Meet this season’s winner, Krista Chan from Canadian International School of Hong Kong

A few months ago, I saw my sister writing about mythical animals. Unlike me, my sister has never been a big fan of animals and creatures, so my curiosity arose. That is when I realised my sister was participating in a Young Post competition: Write to Win.

I followed the contest closely and was increasingly fascinated by each round’s writing prompts. That is how I decided to join the competition this season. At that time, I didn’t think I would win, but I entered it to expand my knowledge and writing skills. Write to Win challenged me in multiple ways and allowed me to express myself with prompts like creating an emotion, designing a museum, and priceless things that make me happy.

I developed multiple skills in this contest. I tend to write excessively, and the word limit in each round pushed me to organise my content smartly, prioritise information and share my ideas in a precise way. I also expanded my vocabulary, idioms and other literary techniques from my fellow contestants, who were all exemplary writers.

As a middle school student in assessment season, it was a challenge to juggle my studies and extracurricular activities and write authentic answers for this contest. In that process, I improved my time management skills, spending recess and train rides completing my writing for the week.

Throughout the competition, I focused on sharing my ideas and opinions instead of filling every sentence with complex vocabulary. Although using those beautiful words can elevate your writing, when too much is used, it becomes challenging to keep reading and may not be suitable for younger audiences. So, I found a balance between using fancy vocabulary and easy-to-read content.

All the questions this season blew my mind, but the one I was most amused by was, “What makes you happy when you’re sad but sad when you’re happy?” Happy and sad are opposite emotions, so it was confusing and allowed me to think outside the box.

Winning this season’s Write to Win has boosted my confidence in writing and still makes me feel incredibly grateful and fulfilled. Thank you so much to everyone who supported my writing in the competition and the fantastic editors who transformed our work.

Write to Win: Meet last season’s winner, Charis Chan from Malvern College

Congratulations to Krista, as well as our runners-up Hannah Kwok Yan-wing from St Paul’s Convent School (Secondary Section), and Kevin Chan Sung-kei from Sheng Kung Hui Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School.

We have prepared some exciting prizes for our top three contestants:

• Winner: Fujifilm Instax mini LiPlay, JBL headphones, Kindle and a YP certificate

• First runner-up: Kindle, HK$500 Eslite voucher, power bank and a YP certificate

• Second runner-up: Kindle, HK$300 Eslite voucher and a YP certificate