12-year old wins Doodle for Google contest

A sixth-grade student from Washington state won the 15th annual Doodle for Google contest.

Rebecca Wu's Doodle, “My Sweetest Memories,” — which is on the Google homepage today — reflects her gratitude for her sisters and the memories they’ve created together.

For the 15th annual Doodle for Google contest, Google invited K-12 students to create artwork that answers the prompt “I am grateful for….” Google received  submissions from all over the US, including our 55 state and territory winners and five national finalists.

Rebecca’s Doodle, “My Sweetest Memories,” — which is on the Google homepage today — reflects her gratitude for her sisters and the memories they’ve created together.

When Rebecca was thinking about how to answer this year’s Doodle for Google contest prompt, “I am grateful for…”, her mind instantly went to her sisters. She decided to highlight the ways in which they support each other using the metaphor of a garden growing. She thinks gratitude is important because it allows us to look beyond the negative to focus on the positive.

Rebecca Wu (center) and her sisters.

Rebecca explains her Doodle inspiration:

“Sometimes I love them, and sometimes I dislike them very much, but I can't imagine my life without my sisters. I have learned to be a little bit more patient with them, and they have had an enormous impact on me. We help to inspire each other and to help each other grow like the vines and flowers in my picture. I am never lonely with them, and they can cheer me up. I am grateful for them and all that they have done for me. In this drawing, we are having a fun time drinking hot chocolate, which is one of my fondest memories. The rainbow in the background symbolizes one of the first things I helped one of my sisters draw. In one of my family pictures, my sisters (sitting next to me) and I (the one in the middle) are sitting in flowers with a background that I drew, so I thought it would be fun to reference that by drawing us sitting flowers here. The word "Google" is related with the stems of flowers and vines, also following the flower/garden theme. My drawing is composed of all our happiest memories to show just how grateful I am for them.”

This was not the first time Rebecca entered the Doodle contest. "I entered the Doodle for Google contest for the first time when I was eight or nine after my art teacher introduced it to me," said the budding artist. "It was fun for me to interpret the prompt and put 'Google' in my drawing. I’ve entered it almost every year since, so it’s sort of a yearly thing for me to do now.

As the U.S. 2023 Doodle for Google contest national winner, Rebecca wins a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for her school.

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