Congratulations to Arantza Peña Popo, winner of the U.S. 2019 Doodle for Google competition!
The Georgia teen edged out more than 200,000 submissions from across the country to take first place in Google’s 11th annual contest.
Popo’s Doodle, called “Once you get it, give it back,” shows her in the future, standing behind her mother. The pair are pictured in front of a framed photo of her mom holding Arantza as a baby.
“When I grow up, I hope to care for my mom as much as she cared for me my entire life,” Popo wrote in the statement submitted with her artwork.
She was announced as the contest winner Monday night during The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Her design is featured on the Google homepage for 24 hours.
“At first I initially wanted an invention or a career. But I wanted to make it more personal to me. So I decided to make it about my mother,” Popo told Fallon, one of this year’s competition judges. “She’s made so many sacrifices for me, so I kinda wanted to show me paying it back in the future.”
The heartwarming spirit of Arantza’s design helped her secure the top spot among Google’s national finalists, including future farmer Natalia Pepe, child-at-heart Amadys López Velásquez, environmentalist Christelle Matildo, and comic book artist hopeful Jeremy Henskens.
Popo started drawing when she was three years old, and wants to publish alternative graphic novels and comics in the future.
“I think I will have more confidence in my artwork after this experience,” she told Newsweek. “I honestly saw it as a little sketch, but it surprised me that it seemed to have impacted people a lot more than I thought. I guess I will take my stuff more seriously.”
Popo recently graduated as valedictorian of Arabia Mountain High School in DeKalb County, Ga., and will be attending the University of Southern California this fall.
As part of her Doodle prize pack, Arantza took a trip (with her mom, of course) to Google’s headquarters in California; she also earned a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for her high school.
Described by her mother as someone who “lights up any room she is in,” Arantza is currently teaching herself how to skateboard.
More on Geek.com:
- Google Doodle Takes You On a Journey to the Moon and Back
- Google’s Earth Day Doodle Celebrates the Beauty of Our Planet
- Google’s Bach Doodle Shows Computers Are Great Composers
