By Christine C. Rivero

ME, 16-year-old Caroline Pan proudly declared in her entry to TIME Magazine's essay-writing contest for students all over Asia. For 12-year-old Jo Christinne Rambaud, it was her Nanang, her 93-year-old great-grandmother, who stood tall above the rest of this century's great people. Bowled over by their choices and impressed by the way both students wrote their essays, the judges couldn't help but give the first prize in their respective categories to both Carol and Jo.

Originality rules!

"It started as an English requirement," says Carol, a senior at Miriam High School. "Considering the odds, I never expected to win."
Just the same she wanted to submit an essay that was original. "I had a choice between nobody and myself. I chose myself on the spot and just wrote whatever came into my head," she says.

Jo, who studies at the Child Jesus College in Caloocan City, wanted to be original too so she junked earlier plans of writing about Albert Einstein or Princess Diana. Then suddenly, four days before the deadline, "Pumasok na lang po sa isip ko si Nanang (All of a sudden, I just thought of Nanang,)" she says. It was smooth writing from then on because, as Jo points out, "I didn't have to do research about other people and it's easy to write about the people you love."

Study well and believe in yourself

Jo's Nanang wasn't able to go to school because she was her family's breadwinner. Even so, she made sure her own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren understood the importance of having a good education. She would tell them stories that would end with a reminder for them to study hard.

"Nanang is very thoughtful, loving and works very hard even if she's already so old," Jo says. "I wrote this essay so I could remember her even when she's not around."

Carol, for her part, felt very strongly about the essay she wrote. "I was irritated because people nowadays have the tendency to say 'Wouldn't it be great if you were the next (name of famous person)?' Why can't they just start trusting themselves and believing in what they have?" she stresses, adding that "before you look up to other people, you have to look into yourself."