I gotta admit, they’re still nice to read anyway lmao
@musicer16 That’s crazy. I want to win a national medal so badly this year
@blue1nk THANK YOU!! <3 congrats to you too!!! and, just wondering - does Massachusetts organization for Scholastic post the winners’ pieces? I’m in a region-at-large and it was impossible to find myself, let alone check out other pieces 
@starstray As far as I know, I haven’t seen Massachusetts post any winners page. 
@musicer16 @galactoc Nah it’s definitely not 1%. I have a list of the 2019 National Winners, and the 2019 Gold Key Winners can be freely found online. Did ctrl + f for certain categories. The lowest I’ve found was Science Fiction at around 14%, and the highest I found was Flash Fiction at around 44%. This is for both National Gold and Silver Medals though.
@wontonandrice I think it’s 1% for all entries (including all of the entries that didn’t win a gold key). So you’re right- I’m not sure about the percentage of gold key winners who receive national medals, and I’m sure it changes by category. I should’ve made that more clear! 
@wontonandrice Thank you for replying! I am really hoping my sci fi piece wins national, so fingers crossed haha
Posting to say that my daughter submitted a play and a poetry collection. She put her heart into both, and edited for months. She did not receive any recognition.
It seems everyone on this thread was lucky to win something (and usually multiple awards). Just making sure those who did not win don’t feel alone.
It’s hard to put something personal in writing, send it out to be judged, and then wonder why it wasn’t good enough.
Happy for those who won, just wanted to acknowledge those who didn’t.
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@3SailAway It’s also important to recognize that this is a contest and is less about luck than talent. Yes, there will be some excellent entries that don’t win an award but that doesn’t mean those who won were lucky. They are talented and recognized as such. Many winners win every year in multiple categories. Their work showcases the excellence that is out there.
As the daughter of an art teacher, I recognize that you have to enter to win and that you have to respect the decisions of the judges and congratulate those who win. Most of the award recipients entered multiple pieces and only 1 or 2 pieces won ( or none at all) Others won many many awards.
Congrats to all the award winners! And to those who didn’t win, keep trying.
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Of course I respect the decisions of the judges, and I wrote that we are happy for those who won. My post was for the kids out there who gave it their best effort but did not win. There haven’t been any posts for them yet.
I do think there is an element of luck to an artistic contest. Talent is subjective, and can depend on the reader/viewer. When I wrote “lucky” I did not mean that the winners aren’t talented. But what I got from your post is that those who did not win are most likely not talented and not capable of excellence, which is not true or helpful.
So, writers and artists, if you didn’t win, you are not alone. It’s okay to feel heartbroken. Please keep writing and creating art. I hope you keep sharing your work, not to a contest but to other people in some way. Your artistic voice will be welcomed by many.
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I think it’s more luck than talent. Especially since Scholastic Awards seems to have a clear inclination towards pieces about cultural background/identity. Winning a Scholastic award, especially a gold medal, is a big deal, but I think some people regard these Awards as the highest form of approval/praise for their work. Winning a national medal doesn’t automatically make you a better overall writer than someone who didn’t. Scholastic Awards definitely shouldn’t have ‘final say’ on a writer or artist’s level of skill or talent. Although I really want to win a national medal this year, I know if I do, this doesn’t make me superior to other writers, and if I don’t, this doesn’t make me inferior. I will still believe in my own work either way.
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I mean scholastic is a contest that leans towards a certain aesthetic. Of course, winning is an amazing accomplishment (I say that as a national winner myself), but a piece not getting any recognition from scholastic means nothing. I’m not sure about art, but I’ve heard about writing pieces receiving no to little recognition from scholastic but receiving top awards from other competitions like Youngarts or Foyle Young Poets. Obviously, Scholastic provides an amazing platform for young talented artists and writers, but do keep on writing nonetheless and submitting to many different platforms. I’ve been lucky to be accepted or awarded many times, but I’ve also received dozens of rejections. also, I think “talent” is hard to determine finitely but I guess it’s just anyone who dedicates lots of time and passion to their craft. If you didn’t get the results you wanted from scholastic, I’d recommend submitting elsewhere and continuing to dedicate time and passion
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Why don’t they just give out Participation awards for all. Lol.
Actually I totally agree they are looking for a certain aesthetic ( which often is culturally /politically based) and varies based in what is trending in society from year to year. Then again so do museums so it’s hard for young artists to find their voice.
I got my certificate and little gold key in the mail today!!!
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I’m really nervous for the national decisions. I submitted last year and didn’t win anything. But this year I submitted three things and two got recognized in my region. I won a gold key and an American Voices Nominee for short story (and a silver key whoop whoop). I’ve been binge reading this thread and I’m scaredddddddd. Bruh, I’m looking at the jump from Gold key to medal and it’s huge.
I wish everyone best of luck when the inevitable happens and nationals gets released.
March 16 seems so far away i’m excited tho. I’m a newbie to this chat. I’m also heavily watching my grammar because I know there are pretty impressive writers in this chat lol. I am a fine artist who got a gold key in my art portfolio, 2 other gold keys for drawing, and American visions award, and two silvers. I’m low key scared of whats gonna happen and at the same time excited.
One week and a daaaaaayyyyy b*****s!!!
The wait is killing me!!
5 more days. I like how in Massachusetts, the awards ceremony is right before the national medalist announcements. So even if I don’t win anything, I have that memory close by, and I’ve made my peace, y’know?
lol nvrmind. Just got an email from scholastic saying they canceled the ceremony b/c of corona… Lol I was supposed to make a speech, but the good thing is that we can be safe. Makes you wonder if they will cancel the Gold medalist ceremony in NYC if the epidemic doesn’t let up