Photo by Pat Christman
Photos adorn the walls of the student gallery in Minnesota State University's Centennial Student Union. The photos, separated into categories of people, landscapes and defining moments, are from students and faculty who studied or taught abroad.
If there's one thing every college student does when they study abroad, it's take pictures.
Pictures of oceans and clouds, pictures of new friends, pictures of grand architecture, world landmarks, etc.
At Minnesota State University, students have a chance to put the best of those photos to use.
Each year the International Center sponsors the Study Abroad Photo Contest, and this year's crop was as big as ever.
The photos are on display in the student art gallery in the lower level of MSU's Centennial Student Union. The display reveals a wide variety of locations around the world, from Mexico to New Zealand, Germany to Ecuador.
The contest is broken down into three categories: landscapes, people and defining moments.
Mary Nelson, a student who works in the International Center, spent several months in France and submitted several photos.
"I submitted just because it's a cool way of sharing your experience with others," she said. "When you go see the exhibit, you really see how much fun everyone had."
One image taken by Alison Brown shows a lake in Cuicocha, Ecuador. In the middle of the lake is a giant island and humps high into the air, covered with green vegetation and thousands of trees. It hangs in the landscapes area of the contest.
"This is the type of beauty I have only seen once in my life,” she wrote, “and I hope to find many more places around the globe that can make me feel like this one does."
Joseph Moseng entered several photos, including one that shows the metal gates to the Dachau Concentration Camp in Munich, Germany. It hangs in the defining moments area of the contest. "One of the most publicized tragedies in world history was partially perpetrated here," Moseng wrote. "Over 11,000 Jews were killed at this facility alone. One of the most emotional and educational experiences of my life."
Also hanging in the defining moments area is a photo taken by Katie Munk.
Her photo shows a statue in silhouette perched on a pedestal. The sun is setting behind it.
"At this moment of my trip I realized the beauty of life and the generous gifts I have been given," she wrote. "I watched the sun set over Florence with five of my best friends. At this moment, I knew nothing could get better."
Each year, several hundred students study abroad. Officials in the International Center are trying to encourage more students to make study abroad a part of their college careers.
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