Brooklawn Student Writes—And Wins—For Peace

Abhigna Rao, a Parsippany resident in the sixth grade at , competed against middle and high school students from all over New Jersey and ended up winning an honorable mention in the 2012 Peace Islands Institute Art and Essay contest.

For her hard work, the Parsippany girl received a $100 scholarship and a commemorative certificate.

Contestants had to compose an essay on the topic, "Poverty: Time to Act Together."

Abhigna was the only Morris County middle schooler among those recognized at a special awards dinner held Sunday at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights.

“It was very inspiring," the Parsippany girl said. "The people were very educated, and being there was wonderful.”

Additionally, she said the contest motivated her to continue trying to find solutions to problems plaguing our world.

“I plan to compose essays each year until I finish high school," she said. "I want to do it because it gives me a chance to learn about what’s going on around the world and [to] find greater knowledge about given topics.

"For example, this year the topic was world poverty. I can use the knowledge I gain [from] researching and writing everywhere in my life.”

She added that the competition helped her learn about the work of the Peace Islands Institute, a Massachusetts organization with an office in Newark. The group's mission says PII aspires to bring together people with different points of view in a spirit of mutual respect and acceptance. The goal: to develop original ideas for achieving world peace through the creation of "realms of peaceful coexistence, or 'peace islands'."

“I believe the organization can help change lives because when people are given a topic like this, it inspires them to work even more toward helping that cause," Abhigna said. "Education and knowledge lead to action and can really make a difference."

Teacher Julianne Buccino said Brooklawn Middle is proud of the student's accomplishment.

"She is already a true scholar and humanitarian," Buccino said. "This recognition of such great thoughts coming from a young mind about real-world problems will clearly encourage her to embrace those sides of herself even more.

"Abhigna is certainly a role model for all students at Brooklawn because of her intense desire to build a better tomorrow for the world.”

Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone each day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast, sign-up here.