Dreams really do come true

Pre-College Topics High School Life
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<p>For those of you who have read my other threads in which I rant about how awful my school is (and please don't provoke me in this one :p ), I have a story that finally helped me see that it is what you make of your high school years, not what your high school makes of you. Sure, my high school hinders opportunity, has a braindead administration, a scatterbrained guidance counselor, and a good portion of unmotivated students (and out of forty, that's pretty sad), but I DID IT!</p>

<p>I heard about the Scholastic Awards about a year ago at this meeting for alumni of this art program I went on the summer after frosh year. The kids were talking about Gold Keys and I was curious and asked them what they were talking about and they told me about the awards. I did some reasearch and discovered the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. It was something new, something exciting, and I decided to give it a shot (for this year; the deadline for last year had already passed). </p>

<p>Anyways, this past summer I went on an art program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Initially, i wanted to do drawing but was a bit squeamish about doing nudes so I decided to give photography a shot. What could it hurt? This summer, I fell in love with photography and have continued it even after the program ended, and despite my school's lack of a photo program - or art program for that matter. </p>

<p>Then the Scholastic work started. I had to find a printer (b/c I don't have access to a darkroom), smooth out problems with my printing order, work out printing costs, narrow down what I would submit, etc. there was a mini-crisis (that seemed large at the time) a couple days prior to the submission deadline but that was smoothed out as well.</p>

<p>Anyways, Sunday - I submitted my stuff on Friday - wa the pick up date for all rejected work. Any work that had won Gold, Silver, or Honorable Mention would not be there b/c it was on its way to the regional exhibit. Anxiously I paced the drop-off area, and then there was my pile. My 16X20 was missing and, after counting the 8X10's, I discovered that three more were missing. Four awards! It was a beautiful moment.</p>

<p>Then, yesterday, I got an email from one of the people who helped me - a teacher very involved with the Awards - and she informed me that one of my pieces had won a Gold Key! I cannot express how wonderful a feeling this is, knowing that with a lot of determination, passion, and a great network of people to help, anything can be accomplished.</p>

<p>OK, that was kinda shmaltzy but I guess in this whole frenzied, competitive, "OMG I'm gonna die" college admissions craze, an inspirational story might be nice.</p>

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<p>That's great. Congratulations! :)
What grade are you in?</p>

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<p>yay!!! yay for individual motivation working out! yay!!!</p>

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<p>im in 11th</p>

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<p>i checked and heres the breakdown. im really happy:
1 Gold Key
2 Silver Keys
1 Certificate</p>

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<p>hey, did anyone else here submit to scholastic and win?</p>

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<p>congratulations! that's really great!</p>

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<p>Congratulations! That's very impressive!! Especially the gold key. Good luck in national judging for that one :)</p>

<p>I submitted 3 drawings to Scholastics, but unfortunately I won't find out until the end of the month if I won anything. The wait is killing me!</p>

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<p>Congratulations that's great, my sister got a gold key last year.</p>

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<p>i got a gold key in freshman year without knowing what the awards were (my teacher submitted a painting i did). but it's for region at large, i think, and that's what you're talking about, too, right? i didn't even get a chance to see if it would win anything nationally because my teacher took my piece out. i did it from a photograph i found in a book (with a lot of alterations), and she was afraid it would count as plagiarism. <em>shrugs</em></p>

<p>when's the due date this year? i might enter something. and you can enter four pieces? i thought you oculd only enter one or a portfolio.</p>

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<p>no im southeast michigan region. im a junior. and you can enter many more than four (though the limit for my region was 25 per teacher - i entered 18 photos). unfortunately, you cannot enter anything for this year b/c the registration has passed. but you can still do it for next yr. btw, i also submitted some poetry to the region at large. i've got two questions:</p>

<p>1) would anyone care to see it (i need their real email though b/c if i just insert it into the text box all the line breaks and stuff will get ruined; thus, i need to attach it)?</p>

<p>2) If I was supposed to submit it by January 8 and I Fedexed it on January 8 (b.c the post offices were closed by the time i had time to submit it (which is after school) with a date label and i fedexed it to the art and writing awards (b/c fedex doesnt work for p.o. boxes) with an 8.5X11 envelope inside addressed to the p.o. box work? Especailly b/c i reread the rules on the 9th and saw the word postmarked uinderlined! I know what i did sounds last minute but i had problems with getting a signature and stuff, so yea. Any responses would be great (i heard that the awards are kinda forgiving, but let me know). Anecdotes would be especially helpful!</p>

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<p>bumpzzzzz10char</p>

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<p>anybody have any thoughts about my writin entry? i mean, in terms of thoughts about whether i did the right thing or wrong thing.</p>

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<p>I'm confused. How did you find out already? I guess that means I lost...the postmark deadline for my writing region-at-large submission was Jan. 12 (3 days ago)...when do we find out</p>

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<p>no i did not find out yet about writing. i found out about art. i don't get it but the judges in my region judge everything in one day. so i submitte it on firday the 5th and, if nay of my pieces were missing, saw which ones won</p>

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<p>Congratulations, Tryin2beCool! :)</p>

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<p>the deadline isn't past; i just checked. it's the 20somethingth.</p>