Another young doodler is being celebrated by Google this week. Redmond High School freshman Mahee Chandrasekhar was named one of 55 state and territory winners in the national 16th annual Doodle for Google contest. Mahee’s art was chosen from thousands of entries, and she received Google hardware and swag for her state win.
More importantly, her entry could be chosen as the national winner. That artist will receive tens of thousands of dollars in college scholarship money as well as a considerable technology grant for their school. Rebecca Wu, a student at International School in Bellevue, took home the national prize in the 2023 “Doodle for Google” contest, winning a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for her school.
My wish …
The winning doodle will be featured on the Google homepage this year, which marks Google’s 25th anniversary. For the 2024 state and territory competition, students were asked to respond in art to the prompt: “My wish for the next 25 years…”
“We encouraged students to try new mediums and think outside of the box — and that creativity shone through in the tens of thousands of submissions we received,” competition organizers wrote on the contest’s blog. “There were wishes for a healthier planet, lasting connections with friends and family, space exploration, dream jobs, technological advancements, and medical breakthroughs.”
The doodle that made 15-year-old Mahee Chandrasekhar a winner with Google. Art by Mahee Chandrasekhar
Mahee titled her artwork “Small but Mighty.”
“My wish for the next 25 years is for us to honor the smallest, but mightiest of us all, the pollinators, who through their small size, truly help make the world brighter,” the 15-year-old wrote to Google.
Mahee has been an artist “ever since I have given her a pen and pencil,” she said. And she’s been thinking about the importance of pollinators for some times.
“We used to go to the local organic farm to observe how bees collect nectar from one flower to the next and pollinate the flowers that grow into fruits, nuts and vegetables,” she said. That experience was the impetus for her interest in science, where she is particularly interested in many ecosystems that help the planet survive and thrive.
Vote for the Google Doodle
Want to help Mahee take home the big prize or help choose the national Doodle for Google competition winner? Check out the gallery of all 55 state and territory winners at doodle4google.com. Then vote for your favorite Doodle. Voting is open through June 4 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
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