Student Writing Contest

TransitionsAbroad.com hosts an annual student writing contest for all currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, students who have graduated within the past year, and students currently on leave from school are eligible.

The following prizes will be awarded for the winning student writing submissions:

• 1st Place: $500
• 2nd Place: $150
• 3rd Place: $100
• Runner-up: $50

All winning pieces will be published on the Transitions Abroad website and in the monthly Webzine (TAzine).

Transitions Abroad has long featured regular articles on the subject of Student Participant Reports, Student to Student Advice, Student Volunteer Service Learning, and Internships Abroad where students share information and experience with other students contemplating educational travel abroad, whether formal study abroad, internships, volunteering, or short-term work abroad.

Many of the winners of this contest and gone on to write more articles for TransitionsAbroad.com.

What We Are Looking For in the Student Writing Contest

Think about what you were looking for when you were planning to study, travel, work, or live abroad as a student:

• What did you need to know before you left to go abroad?
• Once you were abroad, what did you wish you had known before you left?
• Since you returned, how have you been able to fit what you did and learned abroad into your life—academic, career, and otherwise?
• Think of yourself as an adviser or counselor and your reader as a student like yourself before you decided to study abroad.
• Be specific: Vague and flowery evocations of the place(s) you were and what a wonderful time you had there are not always helpful to someone preparing for his or her own trip.
• Think of yourself as a journalist seeking to tell a story with as much objectivity as possible in order to reach a wide and educated audience.
• If you write about your experience as a student with a specific program, remember that the appropriateness of the program depends upon the individual.
• If you write about one program or independent activity, please provide a list of similar programs or opportunities you researched for your reader to choose from.
• Emphasize essential practical information such as how you selected a program or arranged your own independent study, job, or internship.
• While remaining practical, do not hesitate to offer inspiring experiences relating to traveling, living, and learning in the country(ies) in which you visited.
• Include a sidebar with relevant information or related programs which you considered.
• Optionally provide photographs or Youtube video which will help evoke what you experienced abroad and inspire others to do so.

Word Count

1,000-2,000 words. One or more photos strongly preferred.

Student Writing Contest Deadline for 2012

The Contest begins June 1, 2011, and all entries must be received by March 8, 2012. Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. will require first-time Worldwide Electronic rights for all submissions which are accepted as contest winners and for publication. In addition, Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. will reserve the right to reprint the story in a future publication, with additional compensation. The writer may republish the unedited submission as desired six months after initial publication on TransitionsAbroad.com.

Winners will be chosen on or about March 15, 2012 and notified by phone, mail, or e-mail by April 1, 2012 for publication in May, 2012 or at such time as all winners have signed Agreements, received, and cashed payment.

Student Writing Contest Terms

• There is no entry fee required for submissions.
• Submissions that have been published during the current academic year by home academic institutions are eligible.
• Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. is not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, incomplete, or illegible e-mail or for any computer-related, online, or technical malfunctions that may occur in the submission process.
• Submissions are considered void if illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error, or obtained through fraud or theft.
• Submissions will be considered made by an authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.
• The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners—along with any other runners-up accepted for publication—will be paid by Transitions Abroad Publishing, Inc. either by check or PayPal as preferred by the author.
• All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the Contest winners.
• Decisions of the judges are final.

Format

Typed in Microsoft Word and sent by e-mail to studentwritingcontest@TransitionsAbroad.com. Your name and your email address should be on the document and the "2012 Transitions Abroad Student Writing Contest" as the subject of the email. Please let us know as webeditor@transitionsabroad.com if your submission did not get through for any reason.

Cover Sheet

Please provide your name and contact information (address, email address, telephone number), your college or university, and your year in school or year that you graduated or expect to graduate. If you traveled on your own, list the countries and dates and what you did (worked, backpacked, etc.) If you traveled with a program, list the program name and institution, and the dates. Include your current and permanent address, your current and permanent phone number, and e-mail address if applicable. Include a short biographical note (hometown, major, etc.). This information can be in the body of the email which includes your submission.

Transmission

Send electronically as an attached MS Word file which includes the submission title, your name, your email address, and the story to studentwritingcontest@TransitionsAbroad.com. If you cannot attach the submission as an MS Word file, then please paste the article into an email message. If you have any questions about the contest, please write to the webeditor@transitionsabroad.com.

You can also download the 2012 Student Writing Contest Guidelines as a .pdf file.

* Please do not send a hard copy submission by mail, as it will not be judged.

Notification of your participation in the contest via Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking sites would be much appreciated (see our links/buttons at the top and bottom of this page).