True North, shot by Jason Ho, snagged first place in the Best Study Abroad Experience category
Hey Mom, I’m Moving to Norway, by Gavin Schneider, won first place for the People’s Choice award
Freeze a travel moment so that it lights others’ lives. The winners of the 2015 International Photo Contest organized by UCalgary’s Study Abroad office did so, turning the world into their classroom with glimpses of life far beyond campus borders.
A panel of judges and a ballot for a people’s choice award resulted in 10 contest winners during the popular contest’s 24th year, which was open to all current UCalgary students. Judges for the March 2015 contest evaluated 236 entries on technical merits such as composition, lighting and quality, as well as originality and international focus in several categories.
Jason Ho (finishing his Masters in Software Engineering) was one of the winners, capturing first prize in the Best Study Abroad Experience category with his photo True North. It shows a brilliant sunset captured in the rearview mirror of his truck as it travels on a highway in northern Ontario.
“I’m from Vietnam and I love Canada,” says Ho. “The highway was an inspiration.” First-prize People’s Choice awards went to Gavin Schneider (third-year geography student) for his photo Hey Mom, I’m Moving to Norway! He was on exchange at the University of Oslo last year when he captured a glacial deposit wedged in a mountain crevasse.
“The toughest part of the shot wasgetting the courage to get up on the rock after a 20-kilometre hike in cold and rainy Norwegian weather,” admits Schneider.
The prize was shared with Jordan Holdaway (fourth-year BSc student) for Opportunities, taken last fall during an exchange at California State University at Monterey Bay.
Colleen Packer, manager of UCalgary’s International Learning Programs, says some 1,100 students “internationalize” their degrees through exchanges or group-study programs every year.
“They can spend a summer, semester or year on one of more than 150 programs worldwide, without paying foreign student tuition, and earn credit toward their major, minor or options,” she says. “The photo contest raises awareness about this unique opportunity that students can take advantage of only while studying here.” U