"My dad was really proud of me," O'Connor said. "My mom thought this was a step closer to the beach house she wants me to buy her. My grandpa asked if grandpas are allowed to come to Las Vegas."

O'Connor attended a convention for the Association for American Editorial Cartoonists at Caesar's Palace, June 24 through 27, during which he was awarded the John Locher Memorial Award.

The award has been given out annually by the AAEC since 1986 in memory of artist John Locher. The contest is open to undergraduate editorial cartoonists under the age of 25 living in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Contestants must submit a portfolio of four drawings to be judged by a panel.

According to a Web site article by Dick Locher, originator of the award and artist of the famous Dick Tracy comic strip, O'Connor's portfolio contained subjects such as drugs, balancing the budget and President Clinton's alleged affairs.

"I almost put my head through the roof when Dick called," O'Connor said. "I didn't think he was serious."

He said he wasn't awarded a monetary prize, but he was able to meet a lot of famous cartoonists.

"You really can't put a price tag on that," he said.

One of the cartoonists O'Connor met, the 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Steve Breen, sat next to him at the award dinner. Breen, a former Locher winner, also was among the judges for this year's award.

"He really impressed me because he kinda looked for me (at the convention)."

However, O'Connor is no stranger to recognition.

While attending Kent Roosevelt High School, he was the Quill and Scroll national winner for editorial cartooning. He has been contributing his work to The Daily Kent Stater since he was a high school senior.

This past spring, he placed first in the Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards, a statewide competition for professionals.

His work has been reprinted frequently in the Record-Courier and in Editorial Humor, a cartoon magazine out of Boston. U Magazine, a national college publication, also has run his cartoons.

About two years ago he mailed 15 packages of his work to different syndicates. He received rejections from all but the College Press Exchange - they hadn't received his work in the mail.

The College Press Exchange asked him to fax some sample drawings, and O'Connor has been working with them ever since.

Christine Tatum, a reporter for the College Press Exchange, said O'Connor's work is put on the wire and distributed to more than 350 college newspapers across the country.

He is part of the Campus Correspondence Program, which she called "an elite group." The program is made up of 30 students across the nation.

"I work with Patrick quite closely. I know that he is one of the most talented editorial cartoonists in the country right now," Tatum said. "Any newspaper would be lucky to have him because he's young and he shows enormous promise."

Chip Bok, editorial cartoonist for the Akron Beacon Journal and mentor to O'Connor, reflected on meeting O'Connor.

"He was in high school, and he came in and brought some cartoons that showed sparkle and promise, and some thought.

"So I encouraged him. I think his cartoons got better and better."

Bok said O'Connor has a good chance in a very competitive field. "It's not easy. There are only, at most, 100 jobs out there. (Newspapers) only hire if someone dies or gets old or if a newspaper decides to make changes and hires a cartoonist."

"It's a tough racket. I think he's got a better chance than most," Bok said.

O'Connor is a junior, and he estimates that he has another year of college. He says he plans to work as an editorial cartoonist after graduation, and he wants to live "wherever there's a good newspaper."