Every year, hundreds of students from across the United States take part in the Doodle for Google contest, where they are given the chance to create a special Doodle to appear on Google’s landing page. The national winner receives a $55,000 college scholarship, as well as a $50,000 technology package for their school.
This year, three students from the DMV have made it to the finals, and their Doodles are among the top 55 that people can vote for to select the winner. These local finalists are Arya Pribaldi from Greenbriar West Elementary School in Chantilly, Virginia.; Sofia Ravilious from Kensington-Parkwood Elementary School in South Kensington, Maryland.; and Maisie Derlega from Jackson-Reed High School in Washington, D.C.
The prompt for the 16th annual Doodle for Google contest was “My wish for the next 25 years…” and participants were asked to design a Doodle representing a potential future they would like to see. Working in a variety of different mediums, such as colored pencil drawings, clay dioramas and digital art, the finalists made Doodles representing wishes for a more inclusive and environmentally-conscious world.
Arya’s marker doodle, which is a finalist under the K-3 category, was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and expresses her wish for developments in healthcare.
“My wish for the next 25 years is that nobody gets sick and that there are vaccines for every sickness there is,” she wrote in her Doodle’s description. “To represent that, I drew a shot with two germs with four family members saying how happy they are that me, my family and everyone doesn’t get sick.”
Sofia, also in the K-3 category, created a forest scene out of clay for her submission, which she entitled “Nature Will Never End.”
“I made a forest with animals and trees because my wish for the next 25 years is that there will be more nature for animals to survive in,” she wrote.
For her submission, Maisie expressed a more personal wish, depicting a dinner scene with her friends and family.
“Every Sunday, my family sits down for a special dinner, and everyone is invited. It’s special to me, and I wanted to capture that,” she said in an interview with Washington Family. “I really wish for it to remain something that stays in my life for the next 25 years.”
Maisie is currently a senior in high school and plans to attend the University of Michigan and major in art and design. She says that she originally intended to submit a Doodle for last year’s contest but missed the deadline.
“[Doodle for Google] is such a cool way to get your art out there,” she adds. “As someone who’s really hoping to pursue a career in art, winning would be really incredible.”
The national winner, as well as five national finalists, will be announced in June. The latter will each receive a smaller $5,000 scholarship, Google hardware and merchandise.
To vote, visit doodles.google.com/d4g.
