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The International Student Essay Contest was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated. The judging panel—which included staff members from across campus and the community—really enjoyed reading all of the essays and felt they learned a great deal about the experiences of international students and the different images of the U.S. abroad. As a result, it was extremely difficult to choose the winners.
The winners are:
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First Place: Hiroki Kondo
Prize: 2GB MP2 Player
Donated by the UW Credit Union
Home Country: Japan
I came here as an exchange student (from Sophia University ) for one year. My major in my university is English (American) Literature and I have two minors, Teaching courses and Linguistics. I like reading books, but more than that, I love going for a walk to used bookstores and hanging around looking at books. At the same time, I am a really active person, such as running two full-marathons or bicycling from Tokyo to my hometown (about 450 miles), and recently I'm enjoying street dance. I really wanted to make good memories here, so I'm really happy for this winning!
Read the essay.
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Second Place: Nadja Albertsen
Prize: $75 Gift Certificate
Donated by the University Book Store
Home Country: Denmark
Every second year, the Brittingham Viking Organization gives out a scholarship to a very fortunate Danish student, allowing him/her to study a full year at UW-Madison - This year, that lucky person was me! In Denmark I study at the University of Southern Denmark where I am a graduate student in Medicine. But, as it is somewhat impossible to get any credits transferred from the medical school here to the one in Denmark , I have the rare opportunity to pick my courses at UW more with my heart than with my head. So right now I’m enjoying a mixture of Arabic, Relaxation and International Health. This first semester has been an amazing experience! The students are hard-working and enthusiastic, the teachers and professors great and very devoted, and the courses are fun! And there’s always something going on, either on Campus or downtown. I love it here – I wish I could take some of that ‘student-life’ with me back to Denmark .
Read the essay.
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Third Place: Aishwarya Sreenivasan (left)
Prize: Gift Basket
Donated by the Wisconsin Alumni Association
Home Country: India
I am Aishwarya Sreenivasan, a Masters student in Biomedical engineering, graduating in December 2007 and in Madison since 2006 January. I am from Chennai, a big coastal city in south east India. I am doing my research on electrotactile substitution for the visually challenged at the Tactile displays lab at UW-Madison. Apart from my studies, I am a classical Indian dancer and also performed in the UW Memorial Union. I enjoy traveling and have a great interest in history. I am a good Indian vegetarian cook. I just love Madison and its people and enjoyed being part of it.
Read the essay.
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Fourth Place: Bahauddeen Alrfaei
Prize: $25 Gift Certificate
Donated by the University Book Store
Home Country: Saudi Arabia
I am Bahauddeen Alrfaei, married, from Saudi Arabia. I am a first year master student at bacteriology department and I hope I can make it to the PhD. I came to the US to Wisconsin-Madison to study academic English at early 2006 before I joined the Master program. I like it here even though it’s too cold.
Read the essay.
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To all of the participants, please accept our sincerest congratulations, as well as our deepest gratitude for your willingness to share your thoughts. We hope you will continue to share your story with others on campus and in the community so that they may learn from your experiences. The University of Wisconsin-Madison would not be what it is without the contributions of brave, insightful international students like you.
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