WACO, Texas — In April, Abigail Olmstead will get to see 1,200 students wearing her t-shirt design. She designed what one Texas History Day coordinator calls 'unique art work.' This win, has given Abigail a boost of confidence that she needs.
"Okay, people like my art and it’s kinda encouraging," said Waco student, Abigail Olmstead.
Those words from Abigail are thoughts she didn't have a few months ago.
“I entered only one graphic design competition before, and I didn’t place or anything and my design was okay," Abigail said.
She decided to enroll a contest for the Texas History Day event, a state-level history fair. Students demonstrate their knowledge of history through creative ways. Abigail submitted a design for this year’s t-shirt.
“I think I was folding laundry and mom brought over the phone and said here and I said 'oh okay, what is this about?' She’s like you won the t-shirt design and I was like OH WOW!! THANK YOU!" Abigail said.
Abigail spent a week crafting her design. What she didn’t know is that she would be competing against over 100 students in Texas.
“This year we had 115 entries and we loved Abigail’s. It was unique. I didn’t realize this until after it had be selected but the bottom portion of the design is actually in the shape of the Alamo,” said Lisa Berg, State Coordinator for Texas History Day.
That’s the reaction Abigail wanted people to have when they saw her design. So where did she get the idea to incorporate the Alamo into her sketch? This years theme: Turning Points in History.
“I just really wanted to tie in Alamo because it is such a huge turning point in Texas history. And my favorite part of the design is being able to incorporate those little things that you don’t see unless you look at it for half a sec longer," Abigail said.
“It helps increase a kids confidence because they may not be athletic. This may be there niche. This is what they found and so we provide an avenue for that," Berg said.
“I’m hoping to possibly pursue graphic design as a career and just give me confidence that I might be able to work that into people actually liking the stuff that I do," Abigail said.
Through all this, Abigail may have motivated her little brother.
“Did I inspire that? Is he just trying to one up me? Mom: He does have plans to enter the contest next year," Abigail said.