A SCHOOL student in Oswestry has placed second in the Shropshire Young Thinkers’ Competition.

Moreton Hall senior school student, Zoe Tse, finished second after reading her letter to ‘Charles Darwin’ for the judging panel.

The Grand Final took place at the University Centre, Shrewsbury where 500 students were tasked with writing letters to Darwin, inviting him on an imaginary journey to a location of their choice.

Zoe's letter took the reader on a journey that nobody would expect Darwin to be involved in – a journey into space.

15-year-old Zoe said: “When I sat down to write it, I was a bit overwhelmed with choice and so my mind went a bit blank.

“That’s when the iconic light bulb moment really came true and I thought of deep dark space.

“What intrigues me about space and what inspired me was that whenever I just lie on the grass and stare at the sky, I remember that the stars that we see now have probably exploded and the light has only just reached our eyes years later, and then I realise how big must space be?”

In her letter, Zoe wrote: “At the moment, it seems like our time on earth is very small, but maybe we can expand out for just a second more.

“You’re not just a mere scientist who discovered the coding behind evolution, but you can be the one who discoverers something which our species can be known by.

“We could leave a tiny mark in the infinitely big universe.”

Head of Humanities, Mr Simon Jones, added: “Zoe should be congratulated on achieving second place in the grand final.

“To gain second place out of nearly 500 entries is an exceptional achievement.”