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     When I was 14, I decided to learn how to make my own website. I spent hours sifting through html code from sites that I liked. Eventually I figured out which line of code did what, and for several years I hand coded all of my pages.
     I got to a point where I wanted my sites to stand out and be unique from all others on the net. The only way to do that was to make my own graphics.
     I bought a copy of Photoshop and started to learn how to use the program on my own.
     After I joined iStock for my stock photography and illustrations back in December of 2007, they started advertising their Graphic Design competition called Battle Royale. I sat out of the 2008 contest, but thought I'd give it a shot for 2009.
     They had 117 people submit qualifying entries. Of those 117 entrants, they selected 32 to compete for a grand prize of $5,000. I was one of those 32.
     I made it to the top 8, and was only knocked out by the guy that ended up taking the grand prize. Even then, the judges were commenting about how close a match it was. One even said they felt that my competitor just edged me out of the competition.

~ Cassandra