It’s been a week, and I think I’ve finally processed it all.

This time last Saturday I was out and about with some of my friends after the CCMA banquet. We were on a victory high. We brought home nine awards, not including the two ACP awards we were recognized with just hours before the banquet. Of those nine, two of them belong to me.

Wow. Even typing that felt surreal.

These competitions are tough - way harder than what I dealt with in community college, when the competition was so limited. Enter CCMA, where you’re essentially competing with every big college newspaper in the state (that took the time to submit entries, of course). A lot of these papers are amazing and do incredible work, too. It’s daunting.

I still recall helping my adviser with entries during finals week in December. I was reluctant to submit the media kit; it one of my main projects during my brand internship that spring. I didn’t think it would stand a chance, but there I was, in line at the Costco food court before our staff Christmas party, sending the kit off through my phone on impulse mere hours before deadline. There was no harm in it, I thought. The worst thing that could happen was that I wouldn’t be chosen. And then I ended up getting third.

Whoop, there it is!

The second award of the night is one I have the pleasure of sharing with someone. Drew is my assistant designer, but quite frankly, most of the time he feels more like my partner. I take his opinion seriously and since early on in our teamwork, I’ve known I could count on him for anything. He’s part of the reason why we received an honorable mention in the overall newspaper design category (we didn’t get it last year, FYI).

Anyway, the whole point of this post was to say that I shouldn’t be the thing holding myself back from taking risks. You never know what could happen if you give something a shot, and maybe the outcome just might surprise you. Simply because I can be so critical of myself doesn’t mean everyone else will have the same thoughts. I love the work I do and I need to show that more.

Hmm. I guess this also means I should go update my resume.

-j

jade.ing

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When the hard work pays off