Finding a Voice Through History by Peyton Castiel

Finding a Voice Through History by Peyton Castiel - October 2026 Scholarship Essay

In 2024, National History Day celebrated its fiftieth anniversary under the theme “Turning Points in History.” As a ninth-grade student, I spent months struggling to choose a topic. But that struggle finally ended because of a fantasy novel that I read during lunch: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. It draws heavy references from the devastating realities of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre. There was one scene that depicted many vulnerable and helpless women in an old shack. I had never ached so much for characters in all of the books that I’ve read in my life. I had never felt such a powerful desire to speak up for people who were suffering in silence. I wanted to understand the history behind the fiction.

This sparked something in me to research the experiences of women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II, commonly referred to as “comfort women.” One of the sources I found was a testimony of Kimiko Kaneda, a survivor of devastating human consequences of the system. She was transported to China, where she was forced into sexual servitude and suffered severe physical injuries. Reading her words changed the way I saw history in a way that a textbook summary never could. Without her bravery, this would have never come into light.

I chose this subject for NHD because I wanted to bring greater awareness to these women's experiences. Although I did not advance beyond the state competition, I earned second place at regionals. Researching history is not just about finding information, but recognizing the effects behind it to prevent the same thing from happening again. I know that I can’t undo the suffering that these women went through, but I can help preserve their stories by learning about them and sharing what I discovered so that their experiences are not forgotten. Awareness is only the first step to change.