Winners Announced!

Ages 10-13

• 1st Place: Mahnoor Osman, Pakistan

  • Culture is a Distant Relative

• 2nd Place: Karina Arafat, Lebanon

  • A Door To A New World

• 3rd Place: Ava Alizadeh-Pearson, Canada

  • The Eyes on Me

Honorable Mentions

• Bridget Lacerda, USA: How to Fall in Love with a Place You've Never Been

• Ananya Aneja, India: Mother tongues and Father laws

• Aria Davis, Canada: Shifting Sands

• Adrija Jana, India: Culture: From Perception to Experience

• Anahita Mosadegh Khanaghah, Canada: I Wish I Was You

• Maanvi Chawla, USA: There Are No Mango Trees Here

• Xujia Guan, Canada: To My Stepmother,

We were honored to receive 125 incredible submissions across 15 countries to our inaugural Cultural Connections Writing Competition! Through reading your works, we gained invaluable knowledge about how young people around the world are conceptualizing themselves, their cultures, and the future of global connections and intercultural relations.

Your stories, voices, and visions truly give us hope for the future. We wish we could’ve shared every one of your pieces, but no worries if you didn’t receive an award this time — we will be hosting more writing opportunities and contests in the future, so follow us on Instagram to stay updated! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the above works of some brilliant global voices.

The World in Us believes that with every story you share, you are bridging a gap, crossing cultures, and changing the world. So, keep making your voice heard, listening to the voices of others, and cultivating the inclusive global community we need and deserve.

Theme

The World in Us is holding a writing competition open to all writing related to cultural connections. Potential questions your piece may explore include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

• What does culture mean to you?

• What does culture mean in today’s world?

• How has your culture influenced you and your life? How do you connect with your culture?

• What was a time you connected with another culture?

  • What was that experience like? How has it changed your perspective and/or worldview?

• Why do culture and cultural connections matter?