As 17-year-old Jennifer Martinez ran from the subway to Newark Museum, she did not understand why she had to go to this particular art show. She thought, "Isn't this going to be like every other art show?"

Once she walked in the door, she realized that was not the case.

Martinez, a rising senior at Jersey City Arts High School, won the 10th Congressional District High School Art Competition for her piece, "Confidence in Fear."

The Congressional High School Art Competition is a national event that includes the 10th Congressional District. Each year, all the high schools within that district are given a set of criteria to go by before submitting their pieces, which are then put on display at Newark Museum.

Four judges chosen by Rep. Donald Payne Jr., pick their favorite pieces within seven categories: paintings, drawings, collages, prints, mixed media, computer-generated art and photography. Along with the sub-categories, there is one piece that is chosen as the overall favorite, which hangs at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. for one year.

This year, that piece was made by Martinez.

For her piece, she wrote down different emotions and focused on how she could symbolize those emotions within her piece.

"I chose the emotions of confidence and fear, which are not particularly similar, but I wanted to find a way to combine them," said Martinez.

When she walked into Newark Museum for the artists' reception that night, she had no clue she won. The blue ribbon attached to her artwork was how she found out.

"When I found out I won the contest, I'm certain I was the most surprised person in the room," said Martinez. "I did not know my piece won until I arrived at the show that night."

Following the district competition, Martinez went on to attend the national reception in Washington, D.C. along with other student winners from across the country on June 29.

As for her future, Martinez hopes to move to Manhattan upon graduation and hopefully attend Cooper Union for college.