You won something!
I can’t say I wasn’t excited when the email came. I mean, it’d been two weeks since I sent off my application, cutting the deadline close, and I knew my material could still have use a little more seasoning. As an extra course to my menu, that night I had made my special Indian curry. I didn’t know what the contest prize was when I entered, but I don’t react well to surprises after I’ve had my curry.
It was a challenge to myself. Like a movie with that guy who wins something after overcoming difficulties, not for anyone else but to prove it to himself. I was like that guy. I didn’t think the prize would make any difference, but I secretly hoped that it would be a large amount of cash.
I don’t kid myself, though. The contest was for a selected palette of the population, fresh faces awhirl with colorful politics and ideologies. I was one of the paints that made it onto the canvas. The contest was more about the participants than the audience, and that sort of contest doesn’t usually pay.
The contest prize? An all- expense paid trip for an up-coming long weekend! A mere two hours away from the North, the contest winner(s) would find themselves in this Southern city, which lays claim an interesting history and delicious local specialties. Winners would also enjoy a beautiful hotel, business class transportation and free participation in a contest winner’s workshop.
As the enormity of the event sank in on me — and believe me, the curry didn’t help — I realized that the email said I won!
