A Mount Saint Agnes Academy graduate has become the first Bermudian ever to win top prize in the annual Commonwealth Essay Competition.

Eighteen-year-old Nadia Aguiar beat out thousands of entries from around the world to win class A prize for 16- to 18-year-olds which comes with three-week, all-expenses-paid tour for two in England.

"I was very, very surprised that I won,'' a nervous, but excited Nadia told The Royal Gazette yesterday. "I did not think I had any chance of winning when I entered.'' But this did not stop her from working hard at the essay.

"I spent extra time outside of school working on the essay and I wrote it out by hand which was the format required for the competition,'' Nadia said.

"Because my essay met the requirements for essay entries my school sent it in.'' Her hard work paid off.

"I was honoured and flattered when I found out that I had won,'' Nadia said.

"Winning the competition has encouraged me to keep writing.'' Nadia, who will be starting a general arts degree at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario this fall, noted that she chose the topic "life without fire'', from a selection of four topics because it allowed her to be creative.

"The other essays were essays in the stricter sense, but this one was more creative and I like creative writing.'' she explained.

Her essay focused on one character's experience during the last few days of human life.

"In the essay the world is at its end, the sun has burnt out and the earth has frozen,'' Nadia added.

One examiner who judged Nadia's essay said it was "far and away the richest piece of writing'' in his batch of essays.

Other examiners noted that Nadia's essay was "a powerful, vivid and eerie story which portrayed a tropical paradise turned into a frozen waste.

"The story was sustained with regard to its telling, language and poetic imagination,'' the examiners wrote.

Chairman of the local Royal Commonwealth Society the Rev. William Hayward said Nadia's win was very significant for Bermuda.

"We have won highly commended and commended before, but this is the first time a Bermudian has taken the top prize,'' Rev. Hayward said.

The competition which attracted thousands entries from schools and youth organisations throughout the Commonwealth is split into four different age groups, he explained. Class A was the category for the oldest entrants and Class D was for the youngest, those under 12 years.

Rev. Hayward said each group had four main prizes, comprising of cash and books, and a special prize for handicapped entrants.

TOPS -- Nadia Aguiar COMPETITON CPN