Jumbos Abroad

Submissions are open to all former and current study-abroad students at Tufts, including students who participated in Tufts Programs Abroad and external programs.

This is not a competition! All anecdotes that follow the guidelines outlined below will be published on the Tufts Global Education (TGE) blog.

We will ask you to give permission to use your work, both your story and photos (if added) on the TGE blog, TGE Instagram, brochures, and any other TGE materials.

Some prompts to guide your writing: 

• Tell us about a time you faced a challenge and how you overcame it.
• Tell us about a time you deepened a relationship with a member of your host community.
• Tell us about a time you engaged in a discussion about cultural/political differences.
• Tell us about a time that led to personal growth.
• Tell us about an exciting adventure.
• Tell us about an experience that changed your perspective.
• Tell us about an experience when you got involved in your community.

We know many students keep journals during their time abroad, so utilize what you have already written!

For your story to be published, it must adhere to the following requirements:

• Word count must be between 300 and 700 with a maximum of two photo attachments (photos are not required).
• Represent your experience truthfully—all content should be your own, and when mentioning facts, make sure the information you are sharing is accurate.
• Avoid blanket criticism or generalizations of your host culture, host organization, or Tufts. You may write about a challenging experience that you had without making a negative generalization about a group.
• Out of respect for privacy, do not share identifying information about the people you discuss in your submissions. This includes last names, addresses, and other personal details.
• All submissions should be proofread. This means checking for grammar, spelling, and readability. Try reading what you’ve written aloud—does it make sense? You want it to be conversational, not like a term paper.
• You must be open to TGE staff working with you to edit the grammar or content of your submission, if necessary.
• Photographs must be in .jpg or .png format and at least 300dpi.
• You may submit up to 5 times.

Submit Your Story! 

The Jumbos Abroad Photo and Reel Contest categories aim to capture a range of experiences from Tufts students participating in an education program abroad. 

1. Get involved! We want to see you in class, in the lab, at your internship, on the soccer field, on the stage. Show us how you engaged with your education abroad experience through academics, work experiences, and extracurriculars. 
    
2. Show us around! What is day-to-day life like in your city? Show us the transportation, activities, food, and anything else that is unique to your city. 
    
3. Wow us! Send your best landscapes, cityscapes, landmarks, panoramas, and aerial shots. We want to see the natural and human-made wonders of your city or region. 
    
4. Jumbos abroad! Did you wear your Tufts sweatshirt to the Black Forest? Or carry a Tufts water bottle around London? Perhaps you spotted a fellow Jumbo and it transported you back to Medford for a minute. Show us how you represented and/or encountered Tufts abroad. 
    
5. Reels. Submit video reels that fit into any of the categories listed above.

To enter the Tufts Global Education Photo and Reel Contest, you must be a Tufts student who attended one of more of the following programs in Fall 2023, Full Year 2023-2024, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024: 

• Tufts Programs Abroad in Chile, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, London, Madrid, Oxford, Paris, or Tübingen
• Data/Computer Science and Italian in Pavia, Italy Summer Program
• An approved external program

In addition, the submissions must be the original work of the student and fit for public display. The student may appear in the submission as long as they used a timer and/or tripod to take the photo or asked someone else to click the shutter, but directed the composition and other details of the photo or reel. 

Photographs and reels will be judged on their aesthetic value—originality, creativity, and quality of execution—as well as on how well they respond to the category. We will also be looking to ensure that photos are well representative of Tufts Global Education and the University as a whole. 

We will select one winning entry for each category. Winning photos and reels will be displayed on the Tufts Global Education website and TGE social media channels.

We would also like to feature photo submissions in our print materials and Tufts' websites. We will ask you to give permission to use your photo(s) upon submission. 

We have not placed a limit on the number of photographs or videos you may submit to the contest. The submission form allows up to 10 entries; if you would like to send more, please contact us at globaleducation@tufts.edu.
 

• Photographs must be in .jpg or .png format and at least 300dpi. Please DO NOT submit .HEIC files
   
• Reels must be in .mp4 or .mov format and 1080x1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio). They may be up to 60 seconds in length. 
   
• Each digital file should be titled as follows: "Last Name, First Name_City, Country_Category", e.g., a student named Jane Doe submitting a photo from Tufts in Oxford to the 'Wow Us' category will name the file as: "Doe, Jane_Oxford, England_Wow Us.  
   
• Each submission must include a title and a caption explaining the significance of the subject of the photo or reel, or its significance to you.
  
  Submit your work!