My Glasgow Life Competition

St. Mirin’s pupil Erin Sherry is celebrating having been named as the winner of the Lord Provost’s ‘My Glasgow Life’ competition.

Pupils were invited to be creative and describe what living in Glasgow means to them. Erin, a primary 5 pupil at the time of entering, related her life in Glasgow to the city’s coat of arms. Here, Erin provides us with an insight into how she beat hundreds of fellow hopefuls in this city-wide competition.

At first when my teacher, Mr Muir told us about the competition I didn’t really know what I would do. Later that day, I went home and spoke to my dad to see if we could come up with some ideas. My Uncle John works in the City Chambers and I always remember the day he showed me around that amazing building and explained what Glasgow’s coat of arms at the front entrance represented. I thought that this was a very useful thing to know in life but I didn’t think that it would help me to win a competition almost a year later!

After a lot of thinking, I decided to show how the coat of arms relates to my life as a Glaswegian by using pictures and text. My dad and I went into town and took photographs of birds in George Square, a seafood restaurant in the Saltmarket and the coat of arms in the City Chambers. We also took pictures of a tree outside my school and a bell in my granddad’s back garden. It was fun making my entry and I enjoyed shopping for glue and crayons with my mum.

Next, I had to decide how I would lay my pictures and text out. I eventually decided to write a description underneath each picture and I was very careful to ensure that I related each one to my life as a Glaswegian. Before I took my entry back to school I showed it to some family members. My Aunty Rosie thought that I had a great chance of winning but I wasn’t so sure. I also took it to my granddad’s house and he said it was bright and creative – I wondered if I really did have a chance of winning!

Finally the day came and I brought my entry to school. My classmates had made posters, poems and videos and I thought the competition was really tough. I took one week to create my entry and I even took time off my dancing, fiddle and brownies clubs to complete it!

When I returned to school after the summer holidays, Miss Devine called my house one night with some great news – I had won the competition! I felt relieved, happy and excited and I was so shocked that I passed the phone to my mum.

Later, I phoned my family and friends to tell them the good news. They were delighted for me.

As the overall winner, I had lunch with my family and the Lord Provost in the City Chambers. Two runners up were also there. There was a massive selection of food and I enjoyed the cakes the most. The Lord Provost took us on a tour of the City Chambers and I had the chance to see her office and take pictures – it was excellent! I also received a Cineworld voucher for £50 and a VIP ticket to a Glasgow event which I’m really excited about.

I can’t believe that my Glasgow life has helped me to win so many great prizes…it just goes to show what a great city Glasgow is!