Tigers Abroad Photo Contest By Jonathan Holland, Study Abroad Advisor The Tigers Abroad photo contest is held in recognition of International Education Week every November. University of Memphis students who studied abroad are encouraged to apply. Entries are judged on the ability to convey a cross-cultural experience in a single photograph. A cross-cultural experience can be defined as the portrayal of the essence of the student’s study abroad experience. Participants may only enter one photo and the photo must be taken by the individual. All photos are accompanied with a text describing the cross-cultural component of the photo. Submissions are judged by a committee of University members. Entries are displayed in the rotunda of the Ned R. McWherter Library during International Education Week in November each year. First, second, and third place winners receive travel vouchers. This year’s winners included the following: Thien-Khoi Phung – 1st prize, Natalie Cole – 2nd Prize, Nicole Robbins – 3rd Prize.
Thien-Khoi Phung, Fairy Glen Safaris, South Africa Admiring elephants on a safari was the furthest from what I expected I could experience in college as engineering major. The elephant embodies a sense of peace that very much reflects the recent political revolution of South Africa, making it such a unique cultural token of the country.
Natalie Cole, Florence, Italy While Florence, Italy is home to many museums, housing some of the greatest works of art known to man, it was most fascinating to me that on any given day, the general public, myself included, could see stunning works of art by street artists for free by simply walking through the city, no museum pass needed.
Nicole Robbins, Rome, Italy After taking in the beautiful St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, a group of students I was traveling with took the subway back to the hotel in Rome. Two kids, with their father also riding the train, were very curious about how “American” our group seemed to “look”. As two seats opened up after a few stops, the boy and his sister raced to the seat to be the first not to sit directly next to Marvin. The young boy clearly was upset over the loss of the seat and attempted to throw a fit. After no reaction from his father, the Roman boy remained very skeptical of the person who was Marvin, the African American male student traveling abroad in Italy from The University of Memphis. As a photographer, I couldn’t help but capture such a unique interaction between these two cultures sitting right next to each other.