Gifted and Talented Day

With thanks to student reporter, Sarah Peart, Year 9

I was among a group of Middle School students fortunate enough to be selected to attend the Junior Gifted and Talented Day, hosted at St Cuthbert’s College, focusing on opening young minds to vast topics that cannot be simply answered. 

Throughout the day, various lecture-style talks took place, evolving into deep topical discussions, including whether there is life after death and whether human cells should be manipulated for scientific testing.

The host, Julie Arliss, really opened up my eyes to the complexity of all topics, as well as encouraging us to share our opinions with others. Following the lectures, we were given the opportunity to split up into groups of 10, where we discussed a list of thought provoking questions that ended up creating rather heated conversation!

Sharing my thoughts on such controversial ideas really made me realise for the first time how opinionated I was, opening my eyes to the views and reasoning of others. The entire day left me even more bewildered about philosophy than when I arrived, yet I feel incredibly privileged to have given the opportunity to have been in the presence of such like-minded people and as a consequence, I have become more curious. It truly was an incredible experience!