We’re pleased to announce one of the 2011 GoAbroad Innovation Awards finalists in the category of Innovative Student Video. We received many wonderful nominations and the selection committee has chosen the finalists. Each day this week, we will be featuring one of the Student Video finalists.
UPDATE: The finalists have been chosen — and now it’s YOUR turn to help choose the winner of the 2011 GoAbroad Innovation Award for Most Innovative Student Video! This is the ONLY GoAbroad Innovation Award that is chosen by a public vote. The voting period is now open and the poll will close (and will no longer be visible) at a pre-selected time on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 — so get your votes in NOW and encourage others to vote! Submit your vote in the column to the right!
FINALIST: So (deep breath), This Is India by Kia Marie Lor of The College of St. Benedict study abroad program in India.
If anyone were to come to India for just one day – only one day – they will see filth, poverty, over population, trash, cows, dogs, squat pits and dirt. All their senses will be exposed to different things simultaneously. Their ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and hands will freak out because there are so many things coming towards them at once. But there’s more to India than that. In a lot of ways India has brought a side of me I’ve never knew I had. India has given many different outlets to grow in various areas. India has encouraged (and in some ways forced) me to grow in ways I’ve never imagined. When you study abroad you’re not only learning about a new country, trying out new food, meeting new people, learning a new language, and breathing a different air; when you study abroad you “get” to learn life skills (and survival skills) that you would never have learned if you stayed in your own comfortable home. You learn how to navigate a different map, how to get along with strangers, how to deal with people ripping you off, how to be polite and assertive at the same time, how to learn be open minded and accepting of others and so much more.
Congratulations to each of the finalists! Public voting for best video will commence shortly after all the finalists have been announced. Be sure to vote for your favorite video!
The winner of this category will be announced at the GoAbroad invitation-only reception during the upcoming NAFSA: Association of International Educators Annual Conference and will be posted to the GoAbroad blog.