Christina Anto

In the essay category many students tackled the difficult subject of how the pandemic has changed us. While quite a few students lamented the negative impacts of the coronavirus, Christina Anto had a different take. "I learned how much to value life and family." Christina wrote. "My family and I found time to rejoice through hard times. In only a few months I grew fluent in French, began to cook foods from different cultures, discovered how the stock market works, and even learned more about my own family's history." Most important of all, Christina wrote, was that the pandemic has taught us all how valuable time is. Her essay was a refreshing look at a situation that has depressed hundreds of millions of people around the world, making it worthy of a $1,000 prize in the essay category. Christine is the daughter of Johnson Anto, an employee of the Barclay Intercontinental.