Emily-Rose entered our school planners competition last year and won with her cartoon on positivity!

We spoke to Emily-Rose to see what it was like to win and have her cartoon in all school planners!

How did you hear about the cartoon competition?
I saw the cartoon competition every year in my school planner.

What inspired you to enter the competition?
I was really excited to draw for the comic as I love designing and anything creative. Plus the comic in our school planners was a big deal, as students would turn to comic page and it would make their lessons just a lot better. The idea of making people in my school happier by doing something creative drove me to completing the comic.

How did you decide what to draw for your entry?
I started with breaking down why people need to be positive and how I could make this into a simple story in one comic page. As positive thoughts can help people with ending negative thoughts, I decided to make that the moral of the comic.
As I had never made a comic before, communicating the moral of the comic was difficult. However I am really impressed by how easily the moral was communicated in the comic, as the comic character was expressive and the scribbles behind the character emphasised this. Although looking back, I wish I used more yellow and less blue at the conclusion, as yellow would make the character even more positive.

How did it feel to be chosen as the winner of the competition?
It felt amazing. When I found out I won I was instantly rewarded with just the most amazing feeling in the world.

What was it like to see your cartoon in the school planner?
When it came to getting our planners, I forgot about winning the comic and my heart dropped when I flipped to the comic page and remembered. Soon people at school noticed that I drew the comic and people were asking me about the competition for months.
My best friend, in a different class, screamed in excitement and showed everybody in her class. Honestly, the reactions were a big surprise for me, as I never expected a lot of excitement.
Something funny happened because of this; as on the first day back to school, I sat next to a talkative boy who flipped straight to comic page. He started humorously commenting on the comic, pointing the person in the comic saying they look like me (as I had recently coincidentally got a haircut similar to that character). Without saying anything, I pointed to where the page says I drew the comic. This was followed by a brief awkward silence; which was immediately ended by endless laughter, which led to tears.

What would you say to any other young people who are interested in entering this year’s competition?
I would say to just do it! Just stop procrastinating, as you never know what might happen when you actually do something you put your mind to. I actually wanted to enter the competition since year 7 but had never actually done anything. Though, I am glad I did not enter in year 7 – to give myself time to develop my drawing skills – I actually learnt how to stop over thinking and started to think positively when doing something.

If you would like to enter this year’s competition, head to the School Planners page to find out more. This year’s theme is MOTIVATE!