Study Abroad Storytelling Contest
The Center for Global Programs and Services hosts its annual Study Abroad Storytelling Contest every spring. This year's storytelling contest is now closed.
Any current UD undergraduate students who participated in a UD Study Abroad program this academic year were invited to apply by submitting photos and/or personal stories that illustrate the power and significance of global study experiences. Participants were invited to enter one or both contest categories, which will be judged independently by panels of judges from CGPS and campus partners. Winners will be announced and receive prizes by the end of May.
How Will You Share Your UD Study Abroad Story?
Photo Contest
The photo contest themes are Living, Learning & Loving the Location.
Read about the required categories below, but we encourage you to make them your own. We have provided examples of the kinds of photos that could fit into each category - and those that have won in the past - but we are excited to see how you define them for yourself!
We can't wait to see your photos!
Living
Student Winner
Sally Bornhorst
Sheep Stares
Alumni Winner
Kevin Johnson
Laundry Day
Alumni Judge's Choice
Savannah Wallett
Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle
Student Judge's Choice
Hanna Parikh
Via Vespa
Learning
Student Winner
Isabel LeCompte
Student Draws Fontana dei Quattro
Alumni Winner
Kevin Johnson
View from an Open Casket
Alumni Judge's Choice
Kevin Johnson
Not a Bad Window in Rome
Student Judge's Choice
Hanna Parikh
Museo dell'Opera
Loving the Location
Student Winner
Ruby Zegowitz
Oranges in Morocco
Alumni Winner
Kevin Johnson
Ortho-ducks
Alumni Judge's Choice
Lucy Davies
Mountainside Salt
Student Judge's Choice
Yasmine Awayes
Foggy Morning in Caceres
The 2024 UD Study Abroad Photo Contest is now open!
There are three photo categories, described in detail below:
- Living
- Learning
- Loving the Location
Participation is open to current students only.
Eligible students must have participated in a University of Delaware study abroad or domestic travel study program in the 2023-2024 academic year. This includes Summer '23, Fall '23, Winter '24, and Spring '24 programs.
You must follow the submission rules described below. You may only submit your original material. You are responsible for ensuring consent of anyone featured in your photographs. By submitting photos to the contest, you are agreeing that the University of Delaware has the right to use and publish the photos.
Media may be edited in any manner the photographer sees fit. All work will be judged on the basis of photographic quality and subject material.
CGPS reserves the right to disqualify any student who submits media including the use of alcohol, tobacco or any other inappropriate material. In addition, CGPS will not consider photos of students taking part in activities with more than minimal risk (ie. skydiving or any similar activity).
1.
Living
Share a portrait or artistic representation of the people, creatures, and places that became part of your life while you were abroad. These could include your favorite garden to study in, the stray cat you fed on the way to class every morning, the locals you hung out with in the cafe on the corner, or anything else that gives insight into your personal experience while abroad.
2.
Learning
Show us the academic side of your study abroad program: your outdoor classroom, community service project, faculty-led excursion, or anything else that gives us a sense of the experiential learning that those of us back in Delaware might not be able to imagine.
3.
Loving the Location
Capture the essence and energy of the geographic settings(s) in which you studied and explored. Show us the beautiful views you enjoyed, whether urban, rural, or something in between. These landscape photos may include people or creatures, but the location should be the focal point.
We require all photos be high resolution (2MB per image minimum, 10MB maximum) and saved as .jpg files.
Students are invited to submit up to two photos in each photo category and may submit the same photo for multiple categories. The maximum number of submissions is six photos.
All submissions will be accepted via the online submission form linked below.
The UD Study Abroad Storytelling Photo Contest is now closed.
Gift cards to the UD Bookstore in the following amounts will be awarded for each of the three categories (Living, Learning, and Loving the Location). Your winning photograph - with credit - will be printed on canvas and displayed in Perkins Student Center for the next year, and then in the Study Abroad House after that.
1st place: $100
2nd place: $50
3rd place: $25
Essay Contest
In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Study Abroad, CGPS launched a new tradition at UD: the collection of narratives that help tell the story of the impact of study abroad on the student experience while promoting intercultural learning and engagement.
The essay prompts encourage students to tell their study abroad story to a broad audience in the form of a personal narrative. The study abroad essay contest mirrors the popular annual International Students Essay Contest from which winning essays were published in a book commemorating the stories and experiences of international students over the past decade.
Participants in the Study Abroad Essay Contest may be selected for inclusion in a publication by Open Journals in Education (OJED).
The 2024 UD Study Abroad Essay Contest is now open!
Participation is limited to current students only.
Any current UD student who participated in a UD study abroad or domestic travel study program during their time as a student, including during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Participants must follow the submission rules described below. You may only submit your original material. You are responsible for ensuring consent of anyone expressly identified in your essay. By submitting an essay to the contest, you are agreeing that the University of Delaware has the right to use and publish it.
Entries will be judged on content as well as literary style. Please make every attempt to submit an entry free from spelling and grammatical errors, and rich in experiential content.
CGPS reserves the right to disqualify any student who submits essays including the use of alcohol, tobacco or any other inappropriate material. In addition, CGPS will not consider essays that feature students taking part in activities with more than minimal risk (ie. skydiving or any similar activity).
Please read below for essay ideas depending on your relationship to study abroad at UD. We have provided some prompts, but you are welcome to explore any topic that you would like to share from your experience with UD study abroad, recently or from the past.
Studying abroad can be a challenging yet rewarding academic and cultural experience. Please share your experiences about the impact of study abroad on your personal and academic development with a broad audience. Not sure what to write about? Here are a few ideas:
- What was it like to live and learn outside of your comfort zone?
- How did you manage expectations and surprises?
- In what ways did the experience change your perspectives?
- In what ways did study abroad impact your path towards a major or minor? Did you discover a new passion for a field of study? What did you learn about your major or minor that you don’t think would have been the same back home?
- Tell us about the day you will most remember from your time abroad.
- Introduce us to people you met while studying abroad (your host family, language partners, fellow travelers, etc.).
- Describe the sights, sounds, smells and emotions of a place you visited while studying abroad.
- What is something you learned about yourself or others through your study abroad experience?
We require a maximum of 1000 words that must be typed in 12-pt size Times Roman font. Essays must be double spaced with 1-inch margins on all sides. You must include page numbers.
Authors should follow APA 7 guidelines in the selection of quotation content in length in qualitative research articles. Footnotes, endnotes, and appendices are not allowed.
All essays should be saved as pdf files and not exceed 10MB.
All submissions will be accepted via the online submission form linked below.
The UD Study Abroad Storytelling Essay Contest is now closed.
Gift cards to the UD Bookstore in the following amounts will be awarded. Participants in the Study Abroad Essay Contest may be selected for inclusion in a publication by Open Journals in Education (OJED).
1st place: $150
2nd place: $75
3rd place: $25
Social Media:
All members of the UD community are invited to contribute to the story of study abroad by including #UDAbroad in your posts. In addition, like and mention @UDGlobal on Instagram and Twitter to appear on official University social media.
Remember to use good judgment when creating posts as content can go anywhere on the Internet, and represent the University, as well as yourself.