MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Did you catch the unique artwork at the top of the Google homepage this morning?
It was created by a Florida high schooler to spread an important message about self-care.
Sophie Araque-Liu is the national winner of the 2022 Doodle for Google Contest, meaning her original work will be displayed on browsers across the U.S. for 24 hours. She's also taking home a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology package for her school.
Sophie's piece, titled "Not alone," was an answer to this year's contest theme “I care for myself by...” It depicts her hugging her mother, representing the idea that part of self-care is looking to others for support.
“I care for myself by accepting others' care for me. Often I struggle to shoulder a burden on my own, and forget that I have so many people, like my mom, who care about me and want to help me. Opening up and letting others support me not only relieves my stress—it lets me tackle things I could never do on my own," Sophie wrote along with her submission.
According to Google, the design was inspired by the comfort and encouragement Sophie's mother provided as the high schooler struggled with isolation and loneliness during the pandemic.
Sophie is a 16-year-old junior at Martin County High School, the TC Palm reports.
"I'm not used to all the attention," she told the newspaper. "But I'm so happy and so excited."
The judges for this year's contest were actor, singer and activist Selena Gomez, director and mental health activist Elyse Fox, and 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey.
Google Doodles originated in 1998 when company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin placed a stick figure drawing behind the second "o" in the word, Google, as a comical "out of office" message while they attended Burning Man festival.
Now, Google has an entire team of doodlers who redesign the Google logo to represent different holidays and important occasions.
Recently, the company featured the artwork of Alithia Ramirez, who had just turned 10 when she was killed in May in the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. According to her family, Alithia had dreamed of one day going to Paris for art school and had submitted a design for the 2022 Doodle for Google Contest.
Since 2008, Google has invited students in grades K-12 to participate in the Doodle for Google contest. You can check out the previous winners and learn how to participate in the 2023 contest here.