Entering the Helen Lansdowne Resor – By @katiebcreates

By Katie Burrell

Entering the Helen Lansdowne Resor

Scholarship Competition‘In 500 words or less, please tell us how the HLR scholarship willhelp in your pursuit of a creative position in advertising.’Ok, I thought. Let’s attempt to do this a little differently and maybeit’ll work. I decided to write my 500 words or less in poetry form. Ha!The last time I wrote a poem was in my Year 8 English class. Iguess there’s no harm in having a go...so...I began to write.This just might work.The words came easily,No distractions,Head down,The ink was flowing free.But my husband kept spying on meTrying to sneak a peek of what I had so far,This is bizarreIt’s Helen Lansdowne Resor!The pressure.Wondering how I’ll measure up,I know it’ll be toughWith all the amazing talent out there.I have to dare to share something really different.I’ve got the time,I’ll make this rhymeAnd then, it’s finished.I cave and let my other half read it.He digests it, dissects it and says “It’s mostly very good.”That’s a compliment coming from him.If you want to read the first poem I’ve writtenSince being a thirteen year old student see belowI knowI have a long way to go,But it’s a start.‘In 500 words or less, please tell us how the HLR scholarship willhelp in your pursuit of a creative position in advertising.’Back to school in September.The thrill of choosing a shiny new pencil caseI rememberThe anticipation,That buzzing ball of energy sparking insideWhen at other times, shrouded with nerves, I’d want to cower andhide.Back to school in September.Back to school and I'm thirty-one.Back to school and if I knew I'd wonIt would make me feel like a child again,Like I can make anything happen, how I felt back then.The world at my feet, a weight off my mind,That feeling you have when you're five and you striveFor what you want.Adulthood can dampen that spark.Responsibility, a sense of fragility, the need for stabilityTaking over.Money worries grinding you down and stressing you out.Winning this scholarship would make my heart singWith a feeling of liberation,A celebration,As I realise my creative dreams in advertising.Freedom from being a grown-up,To learn and to be,To exercise my mind,To see what I can achieve so I can believe in me again.Like I did way back when.