Friday wasn't Ben Kurian's first time accepting an award from C-SPAN.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Olentangy Liberty High School is a four-time winner of C-SPAN's StudentCam documentary contest. He has three first place wins in the central division, including this year.
This time, though, Kurian was joined by his classmate, Chase Peterson, also 16, who took the second-place prize in the division.
"He pretty much made me do this kind of competition," Peterson said of Kurian.
Family, friends and teachers in the Olentangy Liberty School Library chuckled.
"Not 'made me,'" Peterson corrected. "But, like, inspired me to put forth my work."
The two young men say there's no serious competition between them, although they did both vie for the coveted "fan favorite" designation in C-SPAN's documentary contest. Kurian ultimately received that prize.
"Honestly, we've known each other since elementary school, so honestly it's great to see another face up here representing our school and our state," Kurian said.
C-SPAN received nearly 1,800 entries from 38 states in the video contest for students in grades 6 to 12.
Rachel Katz with C-SPAN said that of the nearly 4,000 students who participated — some of them working in teams — Kurian and Peterson were the only winners from Ohio.
This year's contest celebrated America's 250th anniversary with the theme, "exploring the American story through the Declaration of Independence."
Kurian's film, "A Right to Health Care," explored whether Americans are guaranteed a right to health.
"My mom, who's a nurse practitioner, who works in addiction medicine. Her work has really inspired me over the years," Kurian said.
Kurian and his dad ended up making a 12-hour road trip to Yale University to interview a professor in person. They also stopped in Philadelphia.
"It was very, very fun," Kurian said. "Probably not for my dad."
Kurian ultimately interviewed 10 people for the documentary. In past years, Kurian knew what story he wanted to tell, and used the interviews he collected to confirm his thoughts. This year, he took a different approach.
"I think this year I kind of focused on, hey I want to get the interviews first, and then kind of try and craft a narrative around that because I think that's what documentary journalism should be," Kurian said.
Peterson's documentary looked at the Vietnam War protests, framed around the infamous moment when Ohio National Guard members shot and killed four protesters at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Peterson titled the 6-minute short film, "Against the Silence."
Peterson said his grandfather served in the Vietnam war.
"I actually interviewed him for this documentary and he loved it," Peterson said.
Peterson said he also felt connected to the topic because the shooting happened in Ohio.
"I heard about Kent State when I was growing up and I wanted to learn more about it, and I had the privilege of doing so," Peterson said.
Like Kurian, Peterson did a bit of traveling for his documentary. He not only visited Kent State, he also went to Cleveland to interview his grandfather and also made stops at Ohio University and Ohio State University.
Peterson recently got his driver's license, so next year, he won't have to drag his dad all over the state.
Peterson said the documentary project gave him more experience standing in front of the camera. Both he and Kurian appear in and narrate their documentaries.
In addition to bragging rights and having their documentaries shown on C-SPAN, the teens received cash prizes — $3,000 for Kurian and $1,500 for Peterson. Peterson said he already used his winnings to buy a camera lens and microphone. Kurian also plans to use his money to upgrade his equipment.
The pair are currently working with other students at their high school to produce a video welcoming incoming Olentangy Liberty High School freshmen.
Peterson is considering pursuing filmmaking as a career, but he also has an interest in criminal law.
Kurian is involved in a host of activities, from playing piano, violin and drums to leading a student organization called Students for Patient Advocacy. He wants to go into medicine, though he doesn't know exactly what that will look like yet.
When accepting their awards Friday, both students thanked their families and their teacher and project advisor, Tyson Porter.
