Hi, I'm Naomi, I am currently coming to the end of my second year at the University of Warwick. I'm studying the single honours Global Sustainable Development (GSD) degree and this year I was lucky enough to be part of the panel assessing the submissions for the GSD competition.

So I think this competition is a really great thing for you to be part of. Of course, as with any competition, there's the chance to win prizes which is always very exciting. But also it's a great thing to put on your personal statement as it shows that you've gone above and beyond by participating in this competition. It also gives you a taste of what the degree is about, both in answering the actual question which means that you'll have to cover things that we naturally discuss in the degree, but also there will be an event which if you get shortlisted you'll be invited to where the winners will be revealed. So if you are thinking of entering this competition, I've come up with my five top tips based on the submissions that I've read and looked at this year.

Number one: Answer the question. I know that seems really obvious, but it's really important that you provide a direct response to the question that's being asked of you. Stay on topic and try not to go on too many tangents.

Number two: Pick an angle. A lot of the time the questions are super broad - there's no way you're going to be able to talk about everything, so try and choose your topic of interest and allow yourself to narrow it down a little bit. This will allow you to go into a lot more depth and therefore it will be really interesting for you to research but also interesting for us to evaluate.

Number three: Don't be afraid to get creative and I mean that in terms of the platform that you choose, whether that's a painting, a poem, a podcast, or a traditional essay. But also creativity in terms of how you go about answering the question and that can be through choosing a really interesting perspective or how you choose to structure your essay.

Number four: Start thinking holistically and I mean that in terms of how interlinked everything is. If you choose an issue make sure that you're not just looking at it through tunnel vision, through maybe the environmental lens. Remember the other two pillars of sustainability - thinking about the economic sides of things and the social sides of things. Try and think about how all of these issues can be interlinked with one another.

Number five: Do your research. I know it seems really obvious, but whatever argument you're trying to make, make sure that it has credibility and that it's coming from a well-researched point of view.

Thank you so much for watching, I hope you found this video at least a little bit useful and we really look forward to receiving your submissions sometime in the future. Bye!