On Friday, March 20, Metta Wongkamchai attended the Junior Dublin Impact Awards as a short-listed candidate. Metta’s mother, Jonathan Montgomery, and Lisa Malabago joined her at the awards ceremony associated with the Nation Newspaper. Metta was shortlisted as an award-winner for her essay submission (posted below). The theme, Once Upon a Time . . . took a poignant and somewhat painful turn in Metta’s short story about a Thai teacher concerned about encroaching westernization on her traditional Thai culture. The panel of esteemed judges was impressed and Metta was a finalist in the Bangkok/Central Division. This placed her amongst the top 5% of over 900 essay entries. Please join us in congratulating her for this wonderful accomplishment. We encourage her and other Thai students to consider writing for next year’s theme: “So near, yet so far . . . “