On the last day of school for term 3 Damascus College Year 8 student Dana Reynolds was awarded first prize for her “I Have a Dream” speech in the Junior category.

The writing competition was part of the recent Book Week activities, and St Martin Resource Centre Leader Sharon Hayes was on hand to present Dana with her prize, a gift certificate to Collin's Booksellers.

Dana's Winning Speech

I have a dream… who am I kidding, we all have dreams. And all our dreams are different and intricate in their own way, just like us. Humans are all unique, each person carrying different traits, emotions, thoughts and lives. But individuality is fleeting. Each day, discrimination is being directed at people for being original, or “not fitting in”. Trust me. I see it being done. Every so often I even receive it. If this continues, creative ideas will dry out, due to fear of judgemental peers, or even friends.

So, the question is, why do we segregate those different to us? The answer, most humans in our world today are afraid of change. It’s as simple as that. It’s in our nature. New things or ideas can be perceived as threats, or just plain odd. People discriminate originality because it doesn’t fit “the norm”. Apparently, in an ideal world, we should all be the same. But take a moment to imagine that. Imagine walking down the street, wearing the same outfit as every other kid. Now THAT’S odd. The world would be a bore. Creative thinking is the key to evolution and progress in our society. So why must we shut it down?

There is hope in the world, though. I not only see the prejudice against ingenuity, but I also see people committing themselves to their own unique identities. I see people making art, forming new friendships, reaching out to people, writing stories about beautiful wonderlands you could only dream of. I see love. I know that I sound like Louis Armstrong right now, but what a wonderful world we live in. If only people could open their eyes to see it. See the world in its own glorious light. I have a dream. A dream of creative unity and acceptance of everyone’s individuality.

Thank you.

Congratulations Dana.