Darwin High Student selected for Anzac Spirit Study Tour

Darwin High School Year 10 student Faiza Choudhury has been selected to participate in the 2018 Chief Minister's Anzac Spirit Study Tour.

The Chief Minister's Anzac Spirit Study Tour promotes the importance of Anzac Day, Australia's involvement in various conflicts since, and the importance of peacekeeping missions today.

25 April 2018 will mark exactly 100 years since the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in France. To commemorate this centenary the Northern Territory Government offered additional places for the 2018 Anzac Spirit Study Tour. Next year fifteen students and three chaperones will travel to Villers-Bretonneux as participants in the 2018 study tour.

All costs for the seven to ten day tour will be covered including travel, accommodation, insurance, meals, uniforms and additional expenses.

Faiza Choudhury from Darwin High School submitted an essay that explores the relationship between Australians and the people of Villers-Bretonneux. Faiza's essay looks at how the relationship is expressed through the town's continuous efforts to remember the Anzacs, proving that the distance of thousands of miles and a century will always be closed with the undying and abiding Anzac spirit.

By student, Faiza Choudhury

 I entered the competition because the study tour provides an incredible opportunity to experience the impact of the Anzac spirit beyond Australian borders, and so over the semester break, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do some extra reading and fun writing.

This year the topic was "WHAT DOES THE ENDURING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUSTRALIANS AND THE PEOPLE OF VILLERS-BRETONNEUX TEACH US ABOUT THE ANZAC SPIRIT?". I wrote an essay that looks at how the relationship is expressed through the town's continuous efforts to remember the Anzacs, proving that the distance of thousands of miles and a century will always be closed with the strong values of the Anzac Spirit.

It's a great honour to be chosen to participate in the study tour. Becoming one of the six finalists in the competition last year, winning this year was an unbelievable and inspiring moment for me.

I am most excited about getting the opportunity to travel to France. I am looking forward to visiting First World War battlefields and getting the opportunity to represent the Northern Territory at Anzac Day centenary commemorations in Villers-Bretonneux.

Congratulations Faiza!