I was in the third grade living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee when I saw this small little notice in the comic section of the newspaper that said there was going to be a contest to design a new space ship for Buck Rogers and that the winning design would be featured in the newspaper.

I immediately got excited and started drawing spaceships on a nearby pad of note paper. I sent my entry in and promptly forgot about it. About three months later I got an official looking letter saying I had won third prize. My prize was right in the envelope with the letter: a two dollar bill.

I went on to win many other creative awards, but none of them seemed nearly as exciting as this first one. Later on, I always placed 2nd & 3rd too. First place remains elusive to this day.