Burke resident and Lake Braddock junior Sharon Garrott and Robinson senior Brianna Camp were recently recognized for their submissions to the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission competition.

This year’s theme was “Fair Housing: Opening Doors to Equal Opportunity.” Garrott was selected as a winner in the literary category for her poem, “Battle Within these Walls.” Brianna Camp won the contest’s art category with her painting.

“What most stuck out to me in that list was the physical handicap. So I thought about what it would be like if the house you were living in wasn’t equipped for whatever handicap you might have,” Garrott said. “I wrote a poem about a man who was a war veteran and he had lost both of his legs in combat, and was living in a home that made life really difficult for him, and he was unable to go about his daily tasks without feeling challenged every day.”

Garrott’s neighbor Nancy Gastrell, a retired teacher, said that she found Garrott’s poem to be thoughtful and thought-provoking.

“She is a really hard worker and an excellent student,” Gastrell said. “They are both very thoughtful students.”

Garrott said the physical handicap aspect stood out to her because she recognizes and emphasizes with the difficulty these individuals can have with accomplishing everyday tasks.

“On a lesser scale, I had a knee operation,” Garrott said. “I remember trying to get myself into the shower shortly after getting the surgery, and how it became the biggest challenge just to balance myself. It was surprisingly difficult.”

Garrott said she enjoys writing when she can, and is taking AP Language and Composition.

“I think it comes easily to me most of the time,” she said. “When I was writing this poem, I just tried to imagine myself in a situation and to use as much descriptive language as I can.”

In the process of participating in the contest, Garrott and Camp learned more about fair housing and its importance in Fairfax County.

“I researched it because I didn’t really know too much before this competition,” Camp said. “I learned more about how this problem is affecting people in our area.”

At a luncheon sponsored by the Fairfax County Office of Human Rights, Garrott said she heard from people of various minorities talk about racism within housing complexes in the area.

“The fact that actually happens in real life is kind of shocking-that people can be so biased over something that really shouldn’t matter,” Garrott said.

Camp said one reason she decided to enter, and a reason she thinks equality is important, is her "invisible illness" called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a form of Dysautonomia.

“An invisible illness means you don't look sick on the outside but you are. I have dealt with discrimination in the past from this so that contributed to the idea for my art piece,” Camp said.