This year has been a crazy rollercoaster of responsibility and opportunity. I’m just now recovering from what’s been the busiest school year of my life.

First on the To-Do List… My studio art roommate urged me to participate in the local ADDY Awards this year with her. She suggested I submit the video spot I did on Josiah Vogel and his pyrography, so I grit my teeth together and paid the entry fee, hoping I wasn’t going to have to eat Ramen the next six months for nothing (kidding, guys, kidding. I only eat Ramen…often…ish….)

So this spring when the awards were announced, my roommate and I eagerly looked through the winners’ names, slightly disappointed we couldn’t find our names. We shrugged as we put my laptop aside, trying not to let each other know how disappointed we were.

Then the next day my classmate congratulated me.

“For what?” I asked, slightly bewildered as I gathered my things to leave after the bell. My mind ran through the things she could possible be referring to, but none of the options seemed big enough to warrant a congratulations.

“Your ADDY Award,” she explained, the slightly flicker of doubt crossing her bright eyes. “You did that video on Mr. Vogel, right?”

“Yeah….?” My hopes were rising. My classmate had gone to the ADDY Award banquet to get the full experience of the event as a senior. I’d opted not to go because it would cost me another hunk a cash I didn’t care to spend.

“They played it on the screen,” she said. “They said you won.”

Turns out that my roommate and I were looking at last year’s winner list. Even though we submitted our entries to the ADDYs in 2017, they were the 2018 ADDY Awards.

Needless to say our confidence was salvaged.

I ended up receiving a Silver ADDY Award for my “Fire Writing” entry (which you can watch here) and my roommate got Gold for her illustration.

In other news, “Fire Writing also won first in my college’s commencement contest at the end of the year.