September 2022 Winners

My piece is a reflection, a part of myself. It’s a memoir told in third person, about how I overcame my trauma and found the beauty in life.

My piece is about some of the struggles that me and countless other trans people experience on a daily basis. It belongs in the justice section of the writing challenge because I am writing about issues that pertain to our society and social justice issues. This poem is my way of bringing light to some of the emotions that come up when I hear people misgender or disrespect me or anyone else that does not identify as cisgender. In one part of the poem I refer to myself using he/him pronouns because it reflects some of the self doubt and gender dysphoria I feel when explaining to people that I am trans. While it does include some dark components, my poem is not necessarily meant to depress or dishearten people, rather it is meant to educate people on how their actions can affect gender queer individuals, especially youth. The second to last stanza of the poem touches on the high suicide rates among trans youth and the last stanza and last line explain my apprehension to being apologized to because it makes me feel like I’m in the wrong. Sometimes an apology is necessary, but when overdone, it actually has negative effects in this situation.

My entry relates back to the required submission criteria of hope, as I talk about towards the end of the poem my hope for the next generation, and how I want the standards of society towards girls and women to be changed. A description of my piece is: My poem dives deeply right into the raw realness of what so many girls in today’s world go through partly due to society’s standards. How we suffer to try to fit the mold and the cost of it, and how it’s just not worth it. My piece circles back around to my hope that the narrative can be changed, and that the next generation of girls won’t have to suffer like this one.

I chose the category Hope because it is one that I have a lot of experience with. My sister is two years older than me and one year sober from opioids. Writing about addiction comes fairly naturally to me; and I think that's because I watched her struggle for so many years. I want other kids struggling with substance abuse to know that there is hope in recovery, and that getting help is never a bad thing.

This story brings me back to elementary school. With all the discussion about how teachers are being treated by parents and administrators, I wanted to try and see the perspective of a school environment as a teacher and what struggles they face. I have had a love for learning since kindergarten and that would have never been the case if I didn’t have teachers guiding me and nurturing that appreciation. I’ve created this piece to give hope to the future of education and teaching.

My artwork shows a group of Asians protesting to get justice for them, you can see in the middle picture I have a picture frame of a woman, she is Michelle Go, a victim of racism, as well as anti-Asian hatred, she has pushed down the tracks of the New York subway. I drew her because I want to reclaim justice for her in general and Asians in particular, Ms. Michelle Go's incident has been a wake-up call because Asian Hate Crime has gone too far. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian racism has also become more frequent, some people call our community the cause of the pandemic, and they also make derogatory comments, and said that we should return to our country

In this artwork, I aspire to instill a feeling of hope; as although the figure is presented with limited categories to force themself into, they still chose to be themself. I dually aim that this instills hope amongst those who have been faced with a similar scerio, who feel alone in their struggles. I hope those who do not struggle with such issues feel a call to action—to emotiolly support those struggling and help the reform of gender & gender norms within our society.

My entry is about the recent overturning of Roe V. Wade. On the canvas, there is a television playing a news coverage of a protest fighting against the overturning. The people protesting look upset and are all holding signs with pro-choice designs. There is a woman intently watching the screen looking slightly unkempt with bandages. This ties into the theme of justice I was going for, where even if you are not able to persolly be there, you can still watch others fight for the same cause. With a constant barrage of bad news in today's media, it’s easier to feel desensitized and pretend like it doesn’t affect you. A lot of people don’t understand the repercussions of such a case being overturned or who it affects. Even if Roe V. Wade being reversed doesn’t affect you, it can harm the people around you and takes away women's rights to make healthcare decisions for themselves. You never know when something like this could affect family or friends—it hurts everybody. Understandably, there are a lot of circumstances that would prevent someone from being able to fight for themself. The good thing about this world is that there are still people willingly putting themselves out there despite all odds to fight for everybody, both for you and me. I felt like a protest was a great example of this message.

My entry is about the recent overturning of Roe V. Wade. On the canvas, there is a television playing a news coverage of a protest fighting against the overturning. The people protesting look upset and are all holding signs with pro-choice designs. There is a woman intently watching the screen looking slightly unkempt with bandages. This ties into the theme of justice I was going for, where even if you are not able to personally be there, you can still watch others fight for the same cause. With a constant barrage of bad news in today's media, it’s easier to feel desensitized and pretend like it doesn’t affect you. A lot of people don’t understand the repercussions of such a case being overturned or who it affects. Even if Roe V. Wade being reversed doesn’t affect you, it can harm the people around you and takes away women's rights to make healthcare decisions for themselves. You never know when something like this could affect family or friends—it hurts everybody. Understandably, there are a lot of circumstances that would prevent someone from being able to fight for themself. The good thing about this world is that there are still people willingly putting themselves out there despite all odds to fight for everybody, both for you and me. I felt like a protest was a great example of this message.

In this artwork, I aspire to instill a feeling of hope; as although the figure is presented with limited categories to force themself into, they still chose to be themself. I dually aim that this instills hope amongst those who have been faced with a similar scenario, who feel alone in their struggles. I hope those who do not struggle with such issues feel a call to action—to emotionally support those struggling and help the reform of gender & gender norms within our society.

A watercolor piece about the mental health of soldiers and veterans.

My entry depicts a group of women known as the “Harvard Computers” who worked at the Harvard Observatory for a man med Edward Charles Pickering. In 1877, Pickering became the director of the Harvard Observatory during a time of great technological advancement, increasing the prevalence of photography, and subsequently the astrological data available to interpret. Pickering, in what appeared to be a progressive maneuver, employed his female staff to work examine, catalogue, and observe the data presented, however, the decision loses appeal when you take into account the workload of these women, their 25 to 50 cent wages, and their capacity to achieve greatness. Despite this, the women made significant contributions to the field of astronomy, especially Henrietta Swan Leavitt (pictured in the front) who discovered the period-luminosity relationship for Cepheid variables, a contribution that helped shape future astronomical discoveries. Henrietta and the many other talented “computers” performed incredibly important work, however, they received little to no recognition for their contributions.

This idea goes way back to when I was in a bad state of mind. I was not in a good position to do anything because of my mentality. Everything felt like it was crumbling and then one day I bumped into a family member watching the news. As I looked up at the television I saw this news report of a person being stopped and helped my multiple people. A picture of this event is what I used as a reference for my painting because after seeing all of those people help one person reminded me and still keeps reminding me that there are people out there to help me when I am at my worst.

My entry depicts a group of women known as the “Harvard Computers” who worked at the Harvard Observatory for a man named Edward Charles Pickering. In 1877, Pickering became the director of the Harvard Observatory during a time of great technological advancement, increasing the prevalence of photography, and subsequently the astrological data available to interpret. Pickering, in what appeared to be a progressive maneuver, employed his female staff to work examine, catalogue, and observe the data presented, however, the decision loses appeal when you take into account the workload of these women, their 25 to 50 cent wages, and their capacity to achieve greatness. Despite this, the women made significant contributions to the field of astronomy, especially Henrietta Swan Leavitt (pictured in the front) who discovered the period-luminosity relationship for Cepheid variables, a contribution that helped shape future astronomical discoveries. Henrietta and the many other talented “computers” performed incredibly important work, however, they received little to no recognition for their contributions.

My artwork shows a group of Asians protesting to get justice for them, you can see in the middle picture I have a picture frame of a woman, she is Michelle Go, a victim of racism, as well as anti-Asian hatred, she has pushed down the tracks of the New York subway. I drew her because I want to reclaim justice for her in general and Asians in particular, Ms. Michelle Go's incident has been a wake-up call because Asian Hate Crime has gone too far. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian racism has also become more frequent, some people call our community the cause of the pandemic, and they also make derogatory comments, and said that we should return to our country

My poem is an example of how many of us go through extremely difficult times and continue to have the question, “Why should we go on? What is holding me here?” And I wanted to show through my poem that we are our own anchor even if we do not feel like we are.

My entry is about someone who feels lost in their own negativity and self-hate. Most of this stems from their fear of people and their expectations of who you should be as a person. This makes them feel like they’ll never be worth enough, and what’s worse is no one out there seems to be able to see their struggles. However, their anchor that supports them are the people at home, and even though they still struggle with their own self-worth, their family can make it a little more bearable. And it also gives them hope that maybe one day, they’ll be able to escape the unhealthy mindset.

My entry is about journaling, and the positive impacts it can have on someone. Journaling is a very useful coping strategy, and in doing it you can creative positive and healthy habits for yourself. Everyone needs an outlet and an anchor to get through the bad times, and journaling my feelings and thoughts is mine. It relates back to the required content submission criteria because I expressed the influence journaling has had on my life and the way I deal with things.

My submission is a poem about reading, reading has always helped me ever since I can remember. Using my head and imagination for reading helps me get out of any thoughts I don't want to be listening to. I believe everyone should have a happy place and I want to inspire people to look for their own happy place if it's writing, singing, and or drawing. I want them to have a safe space.

My entry is a poem that explains my mental state before and after music and the positive impact it can have on someones life. During the start of my poem, I wrote about not being in the best state of mind mentally and losing hope trying to seek out a coping mechanism. Then by the end of the poem, I discover my love for music and seem to be in a much better place. My entry relates to the contest submission criteria because music has always been my anchor, the thing that I can rely on.

With this piece, my goal was to show a runner escaping a cluster of chaotic things. Running has been my “anchor” over the past few months, so I decided to have the person running away from the sort of nonsensical, disorganized madness that, without an anchor, can really leave people detached from what matters. I painted the runner fairly small because it allowed the overwhelmingness of all of the stuff behind it to show through, while also setting them in front of the objects to give the idea of an escape. I also used night and day to represent the more chaotic aspects of the right side of the painting and the calm of the left.

My entry is a hand sewn plushy of a beige snail. it has a zipper embedded in its muted jade green shell which hides a colorful florescent pocket of life within. My submission is about how hand sewing helps me to refocus and anchor myself back down to the earth whenever I get overwhelmed or stressed. The muted tones on the outside of the plush represent the stress, pressure, and tiredness that daily life brings, while the bright inside contrasts by showcasing the creativity and childish joy that lays hidden and dormant throughout a person's life until they relearn to anchor themselves and live life in the moment rather than as a spectator.

When I saw the "Find your Anchor" monthly prompt, I thought about how much I enjoyed listening to music when I felt down. I thought of the song "Sunday Best" by Surfaces and drew how I felt when listening to that song. I ended up with a sunny background with music notes around my character. In the drawing I am wearing a purple cropped shirt, baggy black pants, a jean jacket, and an off-white pair of shoes. I also have on a pair of red-black spotted earbuds to make it clear that I am listening to music. I chose for my character to be jumping downwards as listening to music is a rush of happiness that is pleasant to me.

In this piece music is my anchor. Intricate melodies help me find the light when I feel stuck in the dark. Music gives me hope. Hope that whatever problem I am facing will soon be resolved. That is why I have chosen music as my anchor.

My painting “Recovering” is about my anchor. Last year after coming back to school and getting involved with several school activities, I had some problems with mental health- overthinking stuff, getting pressured, not managing my time wisely- so I had to find a way to go back and make an anchor. As I was working on this art piece, I thought about what my anchor is and how I use it. Since I thought that I needed to focus and concentrate on my studying and academics, I chose studying as my anchor and started using my schoolwork to help me refocus and give myself a sense of accomplishment.

My entry/drawing shows me hanging out with my friends. When I hang out with my friends I truly do feel my happiest. I feel that this relates back to the required content submission criteria, also known as the what anchors you prompt because the photo represents me leaving all my troubles behind and focusing on the now with my friends having no care in the world.

My digital drawing shows my anchors. It's me listing to music while holding up a picture that I drew. Also, my mom and her boyfriend are behind me, supporting me.

A small description about my submission is actually my 6 month female German shepherd named summer. My submission relates back to the required content submission criteria because summer my German shepherd is someone who anchors me when I am stressed or have anxiety. For example, when I get home from school knowing I have to do all my homework for my six classes and having to study for any upcoming assignments or tests coming up, when I come home stressed I decide to go to my backyard and hand out with my pet. Sometimes even laying down next to her helps, other times she likes to jump on me so I can give her a hug.

My drawing is about how my house gets loud,plus my head turns into a storm of scribble and all I think of is WHY!.Then I put on my head phones and the loud sounds of my house get blocked and I got back studying and listen to the song call zero by anna tsuchiya. The music end up help me block out the lound noise of my house and I don't get stress.

My drawing is me with headphones on and music notes around me, and in the background I drew scribbles with darkness but the darkness is not entering my area. The reason I drew this is to represent music protecting me from the darkness which is problems and stress. When I was drawing this I wanted to make sure to try to draw a bubble around me and the music notes and not let the darkness touch the bubble. When I was drawing me I tried to make it as realistic as possible which is why I drew headphones on me because putting headphones on and only hearing music really helps anchor me.

Desert Willow students wanted to bring awareness to suicide prevention

My entry is about my friends and how I enjoy hanging out with them. My submission relates back to the required content because my video shows my anchor.

My submission shows what life is like when you find yourself living in the moment instead of worrying about the before and after, your purpose, and the little things that keep you going. Imagine having scenes of your life play back right in front of you, and you suddenly reminisce all that is good. All the amazing things you have experienced and can look forward to. It also shows it is okay not to have a dream, and you can just aspire to be happy and have fun.

My submission is a short video mainly about boxing and why it anchors me in so many ways. I talked about why I love the sport of boxing a lot.

Our entry was about how finding you anchor could the little things in life, you just have to find them. This relates to the required content because it is a 30 second titkok representing to find your anchor

Our entry is a psa style video that demonstrates, when someone is feeling down friends or family will be there to help you up.

We focused the short song around the topic of "Finding Your Anchor" and through all the complications and hardships, we got it done. This is our product, imperfections and all.

Many feel that there is no hope in the future, and that they can't find an anchor for themselves. I just want to share that there is a hope, and many might find my source of hope unexpected, but I know it's true.

This video shows two students who are going through tough experiences that they can't handle on their own. When they meet each other everything calms and they use each other as their "anchor." We thought that we could help encourage others to find someone who can help them.

Whenever I feel down or lonely, I find comfort in my friends. I like feeling the comfort that I get when I am surrounded with familiar faces. That is why in this animation, I created the image of me being happy while being surrounded by my friends.

A guy is struggling with grades and mental health gets offered to run for the track team and enjoys it, ultimately finding his anchor.