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On Friday, Bunnell sophomore Sarah Harrison was named the national winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google competition. As the announcement was made, Google put up her artwork as the Google logo.
Harrison, who was named winner of the Connecticut competition last month, was inspired to create her artwork based on the prompt “What I see for the future…”
In her Doodle statement, Harrison said: “My future is a world where we can all learn to love each other despite our religion, gender, race, ethnicity, or sexuality. I dream of a future where everyone is safe and accepted wherever they go, whoever they are.”
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As winner, her doodle was showcased on the Google homepage from 1 p.m. Friday through 3 a.m. Saturday.
“When I started, I was thinking of how there’s a lot of animosity toward diverse communities of people in the world right now,” Harrison said. “So I wanted to draw something that I hoped would show that we can all get along well, and that it’s possible for us to be happy with each other. I want everyone try to be more open, accepting, and respectful to people. You don’t know what they’ve been through — and they don’t know what you’ve been through — so we all deserve respect from each other.”
She will also receive $30,000 toward a college scholarship and an opportunity to work with the Doodle team at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif. Bunnell High School will receive a $50,000 Google for Education grant to advance STEM education.
“This year’s Doodle 4 Google competition was meant to get students thinking about the future they want to create for the world, and their submissions were nothing short of inspiring,” said William Floyd, head of external affairs for Google. “Ultimately, Sarah’s doodle captured the best of everything we saw, representing values like diversity, inclusion, and respect in an inspiring and creative image.”
A panel of judges selected the winners from all 50 states and three territories, choosing from over 4,200 entries.
Public voting for two weeks then determined five national finalists (one from each age group), before Google announced the winner Friday.
All finalists received a $5,000 college scholarship and a Chromebook, in addition to a trip to Googleplex to meet professional Doodlers at Google.
To see the winning Doodle submissions from each state and their artists’ explanations, click here.
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