Winners Gallery
I Feel Like a Ray of Sunshine [1st Place Winner]
by Madiha Mirza
Today, I feel like a ray of sunshine
That touches the grass and plays with the clouds
Kisses the rocks, laughs with the birds
Oh, how bright and sparkling it looks when it glitters from the ocean waves
It lights up the world, yours and mine
And though it has no wings, it flies freely in the sky
The sun can’t control it once it gets unchained from its source
That feeling of emancipation is what makes me feel like a ray of sunshine
Today, I feel like a ray of sunshine
Golden and lemony yellow
Warm, scintillating, and beaming with joy
Giving a smile to whomever crosses its way
Promising happiness and cheer, delivering hope that gloom will cease
It’s a wonderful day today
Despite all the hurt and the numbing pain
Regardless of the prickling in my heart
I see a light that is warm and bright
With that light, there’s hope of a better day
I am hopeful because I feel like a ray of sunshine
Liberated, powerful, warm, and kind
This dazzling golden ray which was once part of the sun
Is now on its own
Extricated from its origin and independent of its associates
Individual, free, ready to be wild
Master of its own fate
It can kiss the mountain tops
Or pierce the depth of the oceans
Maybe dance with the sands
And then play hide and seek with the tress
Permeate through the sky
Rising high and high
It’s a great day today
Because I feel like I am this ray of sunshine
I can be seen and felt but not touched and trapped
You can feel me Bask in my warmth
And try to catch me like a butterfly
But you can’t hold me or capture me
And although I surround you, you can’t grab me in your hands
You can’t lock me in a bottle or in a box
Because now I am free, untied and disenthralled
It’s a beautiful day today
Because I feel like this ray of sunshine
Free at last
Radiant and blissful because I know from where did I start
But I am fearful and aghast
Because I don’ t know where do I end or how long do I last….
Winners Gallery 2
The Winning Artists - 2020-21
Madiha Mirza
She / Her / Hers
Recent Alum – Computer Science
Madiha Mirza received her Master of Science in Computer Science in 2020 from the University of Minnesota where she also served as a Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Computer Science. Being a lover of languages, Madiha did her graduate thesis and research in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), a subfield of Artificial Intelligence which focuses on making computers as intelligent as people by helping them process language (text and speech) so they can interact with us better.
Her thesis “Language Models for Interpretation of English Puns” is on Computational Humor, a branch of NLP which combines Machine Learning and Deep Learning algorithms to create computers and conversational agents (voice assistants, chatbots) with amusing personalities.
Her research on “A Feature Engineering Approach to Irony Detection in English Tweets” has been published in the Proceedings of The 12th International Workshop on Semantic Evaluation, Association for Computational Linguistics.
Madiha is fluent in 5 languages and writes poetry and short stories in her free time.
Euphrosyne Daoutidou
She/her/hers
Fourth Year — Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development
Euphrosyne is a senior majoring in Genetics, Cell Biology and Development and minoring in art. She’s excited to continue making art while attending the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in the fall!
Gracie Stockton
She/her
Fourth Year — Journalism; Theatre Arts
Gracie is a fourth-year studying journalism, theatre and Russian. She currently freelances as a journalist and theatre designer and hopes to begin her career full-time after graduation in May. Her favorite artistic mediums are colored pencil, watercolor, gouache and Copic marker.