The Scholars’ Symposium incorporated presentations from academic award holders from all year groups – from the Year 7s at the very start of their academic journey at Epsom, through to the Upper Sixth who are about to sit their A-levels. Following a round of stimulating presentations, the scholars enjoyed an informal dinner, which provided them with the opportunity to discuss the topics covered in more detail.
Kyle Ruth, a scholar from the Lower Sixth, reports:
The students’ presentations included a wide variety of topics, ranging from the evolution of science fiction novels to learning about an eating disorder named ARFID (Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). After each presenter had concluded, the audience were invited to ask questions, which led to many interesting suggestions and thoughtful answers from the presenters.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the variety of ages of the presenters, with many of them delving into complicated and interesting topics. I thought that all of the presenters delivered their presentations with both confidence and skill which created a very impressed audience.
After the presentations, all the attendees took a place on their respective dinner tables – arranged so that people with similar interests were sat together. I enjoyed this part of the symposium as it allowed me to learn about other scholars’ academic interests as well as being able to share my own. In addition, it allowed me to have educated and engaging conversations with people from different year groups, many of whom I had not previously spoken to.
