Congratulations to Yejin, a sophomore in the Upper School, who recently won an essay competition hosted by the prestigious New York Times. What started out as a harmless fun opportunity presented in Ms. Oh’s grade 10 English class became the main objective for Chadwick’s young author. She impressed the judges with her insightful analysis, well-researched content, and scientific jargon all skillfully weaved together. Her achievement is significant as this is one of the most prestigious writing contests anywhere in the world.

On January 18th, the New York Times launched their 4th annual STEM Writing Contest. Yejin entered with her piece, titled “An Awakening of a Geological Giant: The Next Deadly Eruption of Mount Baekdu.” The aim of the contest was to challenge students to think creatively about issues or unsolved questions within the many different fields of STEM and she went beyond all expectations. Her article was built around the potential eruption of Mount Baekdu and brings awareness to the possible destruction that may occur at the actual site of this volcano, both on the border of North Korea and China, as well as globally.

In an interview with CI Press, Yejin reflected on her hard work, “Producing the final draft of my article was a challenging process that involved multiple drafts and revisions.” 

Yejin expressed how the hook of her article gave her the most trouble. “Despite this challenge, selecting the topic for my article was not a difficult task because I had been eager to research Mount Baekdu ever since I watched the movie Ashfall.” 

The experience of crafting this article became enjoyable when she was able to delve deeper into her curiosity by learning about how volcanoes erupt in unpredictable and stealthy ways.

With a talented author like Yejin with us at our campus, we were eager to know if she would pursue writing even further and enter future competitions. She said, “I am eager to enter more writing competitions and continue honing my skills as a writer and I am passionate about discussing Mount Baekdu more.” 

As the compassionate Chadwick community, we can show our appreciation and support to Yejin by reading her work and complimenting her on this incredible achievement. We look forward to seeing more Chadwick Dolphins stun the competition and make us proud, just like in this accomplishment. Congratulations, Yejin, for your well-deserved success!

Yejin’s Article can be found here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/learning/an-awakening-of-a-geological-giant-the-next-deadly-eruption-of-mount-baekdu.html