First Official Win

D scored a 3rd place in a photography contest. His entry was a part of his elementary school’s program called ‘reflections’- a state wide program aimed at nurturing a child’s creativity and imagination. The theme of this year’s program was ‘beauty’ and participating kids had to share their own interpretation of beauty through artwork, photography, creative dance or film making. For D, photography was the natural option. He enjoys tinkering with our digital camera and has a knack for capturing things beautifully, having churned out quite a few creative pieces in the past year.

On one gorgeous fall day in October, we handed him the camera and ordered him to go out to the back yard and take pictures of things that caught his interest. He spent about 30 minutes, observing, clicking away intently and with passion. The photos he took were all good, some were excellent and we selected 4 as the entries (one was from his previous collection) for this contest.

The artist had to name his artwork so D decided to call his collection of frames, ‘amazing’. Upon asking why he chose this name, his answer was pretty straightforward… ‘cuz they are amazing, mama’. Of course!

He also had to add his own comment on ‘beauty’ and this is what he told me to write as part of his submission.
‘Beauty is everywhere. I love beautiful things because they make me smile’. Another no-brainer!

Hubby dear and I helped him get his pictures ready for the contest and his final product was submitted in early November. A few weeks later, we got a notice from school that the winners have been identified and the results of the contest will be announced on December 2nd.

On the day of the ceremony, all the entries were displayed. There were several entries for the handful of categories they had. Some of the entries by older kids were simply fantastic and upon seeing them, I had my doubts about D winning. But he did!!! His name was called out as the 3rd place winner in the Kindergarten-Grade 5 category. The 1st and the 2nd places went to kids from Grade 5.

D ran up to the front of the room and with a big smile and an air of confidence, accepted his certificate and his 3rd place ribbon. A, was there to cheer her beloved brother on and squealed, “Mama, dada won! dada won!.”

His entry has been submitted to the county level contest and if he wins there, it gets to be an official entry at the state wide competition.

It doesn’t really matter how far it goes. This FIRST official win has already catapult his esteem and confidence to the next level.

And as parents, we couldn’t be prouder of our little man!

The photos that made him a winner……