There’s an old adage that the third time’s the charm. Well, sometimes, it only takes two tries.
Audrey Webb, a sophomore at the University of South Carolina, won the 2025 holiday card design contest after submitting as a freshman as well. Now her artwork, based on the Cocky statue on Greene Street, graces the cover of the USC president and first lady’s holiday card.
USC President Michael Amiridis and First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis chose Webb’s artwork from 57 submissions. The card will reach about 5,000 university alumni, donors and friends.
Webb drew the artwork on her iPad using Procreate software. “I was going for a painting feel, but obviously it’s digital,” she says. “So I just used painting brush and pencil brush tools.”
As for her inspiration, Webb says, “For me personally, I’ve always felt like the Cocky statue is kind of the heart of campus. I walk past it every day on my way to classes, and I feel like a lot of people — myself included — have a fond memory associated with it, whether it’s taking a photo with it during their first tour or rubbing its beak for good luck before an exam.”
“Obviously, South Carolina’s not going to get a lot of snow, but if Columbia got a foot of snow, I wanted to show what the student body might do with the statue because I feel like they might treat it like a snowman,” she says. “Give it a little scarf, a little cup of cocoa, just keep it warm. I just wanted to show the sense of community we have on this campus, and I used the statue to do that.”
Webb is a computer science major from Fort Mill, South Carolina, but she’s always had an interest in art, too.
“When I was little, I was such a ball of energy,” she says. “Art was a great way for me to focus on one thing and just express myself. So when I was in middle and high school, I don’t think I went a week without having some art project on the side along with my classes.”
While looking at colleges during high school, Webb took a USC Columbia campus tour.
“I felt like I connected with this place more than my other college tours,” she says. “Besides the great computer science program and being close to home, they managed to make this big student body feel like a huge family.”
Once on campus, Webb added a biology minor “because I really want to go into health care data analytics or something along those lines; something in health care because I have a passion for that, but I’m not cut out to be a surgeon.”
Webb is already active with the Alliance for Women in STEM but would also like to look into university band opportunities (she plays the flute and was in her high school band) and other clubs — if her heavy course load allows it.
For the time being, she's happy being involved in the STEM club and practicing her art on the side.
“I didn’t win last year," Webb says, "but I submitted two entries this year — I thought why not double my odds?”
Her persistence paid off with this year’s top prize: a $500 gift card in addition to her art being on the official holiday card from the university president and first lady. The 2025 runners-up, who each won $250 gift cards for their efforts, were Sofia Aponte, a civil engineering major at USC Columbia, and Davies Roberts, a visual communications major also at USC Columbia.