A graduating senior from West Ranch High School recently won $10,000 for a video song she submitted as part of a national competition aimed at encouraging residents to fill out the 2020 census.

Austyn Malynn was one of over 750 people to submit a video as part of the “Get Out the Count Video Competition” launched by the United States Census Bureau.

“I was going through a lot of scholarships at the time,” she said. “My mom forwarded me the link to it.”

Her mother, Michelle Malynn, found the competition in a newsletter from the William S. Hart Union High School District, and sent Austyn a link to it after seeing a few of the digital videos that she had already created for other scholarships.

“It was just the right buzzwords of creativity for Austyn,” Michelle said.

The graduating senior from West Ranch High video was named the winner out of nearly 100 other submissions in the Student Category of the competition, earning her a $10,000 prize.

“There has never been a more important time to have the voice of our young people heard, and we appreciate every student that took the time to help us get out the count,” said Lorena Molina-Irizarry, Director of Operations for the Census Open Innovation Lab.

While the winners were announced in a video Wednesday, Austyn and her family found out a week before in a video call with officials from the Census Bureau.

“Honestly, I couldn’t believe it, it didn’t really sink in for a bit,” Austyn said. “It was after the video call that I jumped up in the air and celebrated.”

The winners were determined by a panel of Census Bureau employees, activists, nonprofit leaders, and students, according to officials with the Census Bureau.

“Each video told a story I wanted and needed to see, hear and experience. The videos spoke of our humanity by highlighting the realities of what the census is really all about,” wrote Peter Griffith, a senior partnership specialist for the Bureau in Los Angeles that served as one of the competition’s judges. “It’s about people, not just stats. That’s my takeaway. I completed my judging assignment today with part of our nation engraved in my heart.”

See Related: West Ranch High Senior Receives $40,000 College Board Opportunity Scholarship

Over the course of a month, Austyn wrote a two-page script, drew and animated all of the images in the video, recorded a song, and put the whole video together.

“It came quite easily,” she said. “Recording it and putting my singing out there was kind of scary, but I got most of the animation done in two weeks.”

The competition had been launched in March just before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders across the country.

“When we launched this competition back in March, we never could have anticipated the challenges we face as a nation, and the need for continued support of the 2020 Census,” said Ron S. Jarmin, Deputy Director and COO of the U.S. Census Bureau. “All of your efforts helped reach hard-to-count communities with inspiring and engaging videos that are more impactful now than ever.”

Austyn plans to go on and attend Loyola University in New Orleans in the fall, where she will pursue an English degree with a concentration in writing, as well as “hopefully” a minor in music or a related field.

“I think it was really fun for her to get this opportunity to get some of her creativity out there,” Michelle said.

To watch Austyn’s winning submission, check out the video above or click here.

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