I am obsessed with entering competitions, and I’ve won quite a few by now (I got free tickets to the same music festival seven years in a row due to my dedication). I love hearing stories of what others win and how they use their winnings.

  • Metostopholes@midwest.socialEnglish
    3·
    8 hours ago

    When I was a kid, maybe 13 years old, I heard about a Halloween costume contest at a natural history museum.

    I wanted a costume somehow science related, so I decided to dress as a mosquito (seems weird to me now, but whatever). My mom sewed together a black felty fabric into a proboscis that went out over my head and a sort of cloak down my back with legs coming off it. We cut a Styrofoam ball in half and painted it yellow for the eyes. The wings were a white mesh fabric on a frame of drinking straws that we taped together.

    I won the contest for my age bracket, and the prize was some Star Trek: Deep Space 9 refrigerator magnets. I don’t think I have the magnets anymore, but I still have the costume, though it’s falling apart a little.

    Okay, I have to go text my mom and tell her she’s awesome.