I have never been an artist. I enjoy singing, acting, experimenting with makeup, making TikToks, cooking, shopping, and many other things, but art has never really been my jam. I came to SCS in the middle of second grade and since then have had so many opportunities. All of them have been great, but there was one thing in particular that made me feel really special: the Festival of Banners. This is the story of how the results of this contest made me feel like an actual artist.

Every spring the South Bend Museum of Art hosts Festival of Banners, an art competition where you submit a drawing based on the theme for the year. There are many entries, but only around 80 or so are selected. Once the banners are chosen, the artists of each banner go to the art museum a few times in the summer to paint their design on a huge banner. There's a room at the museum where this all happens with different supplies for the artists to use. The artists also have their original drawings, so they are able to follow it on the banner. After all of the banners are done being painted, there is an awards ceremony. Then, in the fall, the banners are displayed all throughout South Bend.

In the spring of my seventh-grade art class, we were required to submit an entry for the banner contest, as usual. The theme for that year was mythical creatures, so I decided to draw a colorful penguin that had patterns all over it, a cheetah tail, and a unicorn horn. The background of the penguin was purple with stars. After I was done I wrote my information on the back and gave it to the art teacher. Two or three weeks later, on a Saturday, I got an email from the art museum. I was told that my banner had been chosen and I needed to schedule a time to paint my banner.

As I mentioned before, I am no artist, so I was quite shocked. After I processed the information, I went downstairs to tell my parents the news. My parents were so happy for me and thought this was a great opportunity. I thought it was cool that mine had been chosen, but I wasn’t jumping up and down with joy. After the conversation with my parents, my mom scheduled times for me to paint my banner.

As the school year ended and the days flew by, it was time for me to go to my first session. When I went, I thought everyone else’s banners were so much better than mine. I didn’t accomplish much that first session. Then, toward the end of the summer, my next session came. I worked really hard to get a lot done that day, but I just couldn’t finish so I went back the next day. It wasn’t until the second session that I started feeling happy and excited about this opportunity.

At the third session, they gave me a paper to remind me about the awards ceremony. I did not think I was going to get an award, so when the day came, I could have gone, but I decided not to. Then I got a text from my mom and an email from the art museum telling me I had placed third in my category! I was so excited and proud of myself for doing well in something that isn’t even a hobby of mine.

This whole experiment didn’t excite me at first, but then I learned to be thankful and appreciative of it. I am really happy Clark gave me this opportunity to find a new hobby. The moral of the story is, even if something doesn’t appeal to you at first, don’t give up on it.