Year 10 students, Kirsten Barberini, Amber Lee, Angela Braganza and Gabbie Warner; competed in the Australasian Middle School Ethics Olympiad final held on 24 February. After placing Second in the regional Ethics Olympiad, which we participated in via zoom during the lockdown, they invited us to participate in the final competition. As a result of the competition, we placed 15th and an honourable mention among all the schools internationally. This event consisted of schools from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. It was also judged by people from distinguished universities all over the globe, for example, Harvard and British Columbia.

The Ethics Olympiad was an excellent experience for all of us, from the weekly meetings and training sessions, to the day of the competition. It was such an honour to compete and we are so grateful for this opportunity that was given to us through the Passionate Enhanced Learning Programme here at Carmel.

The Ethics Olympiad required us to discuss various ethical theories with students from various schools. While doing so, we’d try to show the other teams our standpoint. We had to prepare for this competition by thoroughly researching our cases and discussing them with each other to determine whose stance we should take. This experience broadens our perspectives and causes us to evaluate our countless arguments. This course has introduced us to a variety of issues that we had never initially considered. We would recommend that everyone, if given the chance, join us on this incredible journey.