Last year's winner shares her Goodfit story
October 19, 2012
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| Check out the GoodFit contest page to enter your photo for a chance at a $1,000 scholarship. |
Each year Augustana College Admissions hosts a different sort of scholarship competition: The GoodFit T-shirt contest. Visitors to the campus are offered a free T-shirt and ask to "be creative" for a chance to win $1,000. Students submit photos of themselves in their Augie shirt in one of four categories: "Best Action Shot", "In a Famous Location", "With an Alum", and "At Another College". There is also a People's Choice Award given to the photo with the most votes.
This contest represents the best of what Augustana Admissions strives for when seeking students: a good fit with the college, demonstrated interest (by visiting campus), working to achieve a goal (winning $1,000) and creativity.
Amy Andrejasich from Peoria, Ill., — and the 2012 People's Choice Winner — shares her story.
I must admit, I didn't think I had a chance. There were only a few weeks left in the Augie Goodfit competition, and I was positive it was too late for me to win anything. Yet, I decided to give it a try. At
the time, I was trying to figure out how I would afford Augustana. I needed to try for every scholarship I could.
I called on my school's theater teacher, conveniently an Augustana alumna, for her advice. We came up with some great ideas, and I started planning the pictures that night. The first photo I submitted wasn't
the most pleasant to take. I went out to Bradley University, with an inch of snow on the ground, in nothing but shorts and an Augie T-shirt. I proceeded to have my parents take a picture of me making
snow angels in Bradley's baseball diamond. I definitely got quite a view stares. I guess I was hoping to win some crazy points for this photo.
The second picture I submitted, the one that actually won the People's Choice Award, was way more fun to take. I asked the star of my school's wrestling team if I could take a picture of me beating him up. It was an awkward conversation, to say the least, but he was a good sport and played along. The next day we went down to the wrestling room and took about twenty different action shots and poses. In the end, I made a montage of four of them to submit.
I truly have to thank my high school, Peoria Notre Dame, for helping me win the contest. Not only did they help me take the pictures, but they also helped spread the word to vote for my pictures. By the time
I actually submitted my photos, I only had about three weeks to rally up votes. I went to a private school, and I knew we had a very tight knit community. So, I asked my principal if he would post the link to
the photo on our announcements page. To my surprise, he not only posted the link, but also announced it every morning for the next three weeks to remind everyone to vote for me. It worked out really
well for me that my school had a one-to-one laptop program, so when he would announce it, everyone had their laptop right there in front of them to vote. My Notre Dame Irish family managed to cast almost 6,000 votes in the three-week period. Without my school's support I wouldn't have had a chance at winning.
I truly had a lot of fun participating in this competition, and the fun has continued into my first year. A lot of my professors like to think outside of the box and come up with creative assignments. Furthermore, there are so many interesting clubs and activities to constantly keep me on my feet. I'm really grateful that I am able to come here and for all of the scholarships that Augustana has given me.
