50 Pence Pride
I have a story to tell that I guess I could say I'm proud of.
I moved here to Wales recently from Yorkshire, and have found myself coming from a huge city life to the beautiful rural countryside of Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.
Back in the cold snowy winter of Yorkshire, I made a pretty awesome discovery. I had previously entered a competition hosted by the Royal Mint in Cardiff to design a 50 pence coin based on the Olympic sport of cycling.
The competition was ideal for me, simply because both my favorite things to do are mountain and trials biking, and I also am a bit of an art addict.
After a huge wait of around four months or so, in which I had completely forgotten about the competition, I was called in to speak to my head of year. I thought I was in for it to be honest...
Then the news came. I was shortlisted. I was absolutely bemused! I also kept in mind the fact that the other entries must be very good and I would be up against some tough competition. There was another long wait that seemed to go on forever to find out the true winner.
During my GCSE mocks, my folks were called in to speak to my head of school. I was told it was to inform them of a good attitude and a brilliant report in school (which surprised me).
The real reason they were called in was because they were simply being told that I had won! The reason they kept it a secret from me for around three weeks was because I would have never concentrated on my mocks knowing I had actually won this massive competition.
A while after, Dave, the director of commemorative coins, was at my school with many other important staff. Even BBC News was there.
My fellow pupils were told the following assembly would be a special presentation assembly and there would likely be media coverage, and they were buzzing. I had to keep everything quiet as I had signed the Official Secrets Act promising not to tell a soul in case the press got hold of the story.
Soon after I found myself up in front of the whole school being awarded a gold version of my newly designed 50 pence coin and a cheque for the school for ten grand. I also got an all expenses paid trip to visit and have a full tour of the Royal Mint in Cardiff.
Everyone also cheered, which happened for the first time ever in an assembly at my school. That really meant a lot to me.
The rest of the day was taken up with constant news, radio and newspaper interviews. It was all so unreal. I made a fool of myself on live radio, embarrassed my mum on TV and managed to get the small biking sport trials on the news. All in all it was an extraordinarily epic day.
That night, I tried Googling my name which brought up a surprising amount of pages all involving pictures and videos of me.
I intend to use my £1000 prize money on making a trials biking section in the local park where I used to live. I thoroughly enjoyed making the design for the trials course and sorting out everything else with some friends also into the sport.
So yeah, I’m pretty proud of that, though I would share it and I would love to get involved with everything going on in Wales. I should be going to Pembrokshire College to do an ND in design (providing I get all my grades).
The true reason I have written this, though, is to simply encourage those unsure about doing something big to go for it and persue your dreams. All my life I have dreamed of being high up in the world of design, and now I feel one step closer to it.
Winning this competition helped me so much with my confidence and attitude to life. I originally led a very boring uninspired life which, thanks to the Royal Mint and the 2012 Olympics, is now 100% changed.
So keep an eye out for the cycling coin which should be released in September, with her Majesty's approval!
