UF graphic design junior Andrea Gomez picked up a $500 check made out to her from the UF president and his wife.
“It’s really exciting, because that’s a lot of money,” the 20-year-old said. “I kind of want to use that money to pay it forward and buy gifts for my family and friends.”
President Kent Fuchs and his wife, Linda, chose Gomez’s design for their Holiday Greeting Card Contest, which will be released to UF alumni for the holiday season. They received 87 entries and chose two runner-ups, who each received a $250 prize.
In her design, Gomez said she wanted to represent UF’s landmarks, such as Century Tower and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, while also making it inclusive to different holidays and cultures. The final design won’t be shown until the card’s mailing.
She started her design two days before the deadline, she said, after a professor told her about the contest. Gomez opened up Adobe Illustrator, played Michael Bublé’s holiday music and worked on the card for 10 hours straight.
“I channeled all that energy from Michael Bublé and put it in the card,” Gomez said.
The selection process started with a committee of six people from UF faculty and administration narrowing down about 10 different cards for the Fuchses to choose from.
Kent Fuchs said it took him and his wife about two hours to pick the winners because they had different tastes. They compromised on the two runners-up but agreed Gomez’s was the winner.
“I love it,” he said. “It was the one that I thought was most appropriate for alumni, because it has the symbols that the alumni will recognize at the university.”
Gomez said she was happy someone from the UF graphic design department won, because it brings recognition to those students.
“We’re like a family,” she said. “So seeing one of us win makes everyone else really excited.”
Florida Bridgewater-Alford, the chair of the Holiday Greeting Card Contest advisory committee, organizes the dozens of artwork entries submitted by UF students for President Kent Fuchs and his wife’s greeting card contest.
