Scholarship Winner Tal shares their story

“Firstly, I tried to brainstorm my chosen essay question. I thought about the intuitive answer that came to my mind first. I didn’t agree with the base of the question – I felt like it was formulated the wrong way. It was the approach I decided to stick to during the essay-writing process.
Then I started my research. I found a few different perspectives that my thesis could be perceived from. I sought logical arguments and other people who thought the same as me. Their works were an advocacy for the chosen approach towards the question.

I paid the most attention to Polish authors, as I wanted to turn my foreignness into an advantage rather than a language hardship. Finally, an analysis of a speech by the national Nobelist – Olga Tokarczuk, became a base for my essay.

When my research was done I started writing. Then I read, deleted some parts, and wrote again. And followed the cycle a few times.
I made use of a thesaurus. It was especially helpful as English is not my first language. This way I made sure to sound sophisticated.
I created a bibliography following the Immerse guidelines.

At last, feedback. I made sure to choose people who were my beta readers wisely. I knew two of my friends tended to give me especially helpful feedback. Fortunately, they were happy to help. I also asked my teacher to read my piece and give me advice. I didn’t follow all of the suggestions. I was confident in my choices and I applied the comments that resonated with me.
When the feedback part was done I was ready to submit. I read my essay for the last time making sure, I was happy with the result. And then I started to wait for the outcome.”