This past July, Angel Rodriguez of Puget Sound Adventist Academy High School in Seattle, Washington, became the National Champion of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, a pilot initiative of the NEA and Playbill, Inc., with additional support provided by Disney Theatrical Group. Rodriguez's win earned him a $5,000 scholarship and a publishing contract for his song, "Bleeding," from Sony/ATV. As part of the competiton Rodriguez and his fellow finalists--Chelsea Mayo of Dallas, Texas and Jake Berglove of Minneapolis, Minnesota--participated in a weekend of intensive songwriting workshops with professional musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers. At the end of the workshop, each of their songs was performed by professional musicians for a panel of judges that included songwriter Adam Gwon; Tony Award-nominated and ABC Scandal actor Norm Lewis; and composer/lyricist Anaïs Mitchell, among others. We spoke with Rodriguez early in the weekend about the inspiration for his song and how he owes his best friend a boatload of thanks for convincing him to enter the competition.