11/25/2024
SUNY Cortland’s International Programs Office recently announced the winners of its Fall 2024 photo contest.
More than 700 voters from the campus community selected 26 student photos for awards across five categories. The winning images will be posted on the International Programs website in coming weeks.
This year’s contest attracted more than 122 submissions by 20 international students and 39 returned study abroad students.
The photos captured the experiences of both SUNY Cortland students traveling abroad, and international students studying at SUNY Cortland and visiting sites in the U.S.
The university’s International Programs Office currently manages more than 45 study abroad programs in countries ranging from Tanzania to Thailand, while helping Cortland students connect with hundreds of additional opportunities throughout the SUNY system. There are also 111 international students representing 30 countries enrolled at Cortland. A total of 270 SUNY Cortland students studied abroad in 2023-24.
International Programs also announced the winner in the newly created International Education Week Photo Identification Contest, Nicole Perez, who correctly guessed the location for the most images. Last spring, Perez studied abroad at the University of Salamanca in Spain.
“Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to everyone who submitted photos for the contest, as well as everyone in the community who voted,” said Kayla N. DeCoste, assistant director of study abroad. “We’d also like to send a special thank you to the faculty and staff members who served on our voting committee.”
A slide show of the winning entries appears at the bottom of this article. The 2024 award winners are:
World As Your Classroom Category
First place: Jennifer Kelly, “Visiting the Vatican” — Vatican City, Italy
Runner-up: Jessica Souder, “Cinque Terre, Italy” — Cinque Terre, Italy
Popular choice: Casey Duma, “Bagni Regina Giovanna” — Sorrento, Italy
Honorable mention: Sabrina Achille, “Khan El Khalili” — Cairo, Egypt
Honorable mention: Tyler Higham, “Posing with the group atop ancient Mayan archaeological site” — Belize
The Faces of Study Abroad Category
First place: Shaun Phillips, “Camel Through Sahara Desert” — Africa
Runner-up: Sophia Pugsley, “Skydiving” — Cape Town, South Africa
Popular choice: Elizabeth Dudek, “Sandy Smiles” — Sahara Desert, Morocco
Honorable mention: Victoria Quick, “Namaste” — Mangalore, India
Honorable mention: Michael Murphy, “The Elephant Experience” — Phuket, Thailand
Capture the Moment Category
First place: Elsa Agarius, “Beautiful sea (in Canada during Fall Break)” — Canada
Runner-up: Rehiva Arakino, “Horseshoe Bend, Arizona”
Popular choice: Nadia Maestro-Page, “Never stop exploring” — Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Honorable mention: Rameen Zehra, “Fall Frames (Moffett Center)” — Cortland, N.Y.
Honorable mention: Su Mon Aye, “Melodies” — Ithaca, N.Y.
Honorable mention: Shreya Dhital, “Captured Colors (Holi Event)” — Cortland, N.Y.,
Honorable mention: Simay Kaya, “NBA Day” — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
World of Wonder Category
First place: Emma Stausberg, “Moraine Lake, Banff National Park” — Alberta, Canada
Runner up: Lou-Anne Duollé, “Times Square” — New York, N.Y.
Popular choice: Maren Stachniak, “American Skies” — Cortland, N.Y.
Honorable mention: Niko Soma, “Niagara Falls, N.Y.” — Niagara Falls
Live Like a Local Category
First place: Kelly Tait, “Taughannock Falls” — Ithaca, N.Y.
Runner up: Alexandra LoVerde, “Cultural Send-off Ceremony” — Mueang Khong, Thailand
Popular choice: Célia Ravignot, “C like Cheerful (on campus)” — Cortland, N.Y.
Honorable mention: Cole Simmons, “Happiness” — Gold Coast, Australia
Honorable mention: Ashley Nazario, “Goat Moment” — Dunquin, Ireland
Select an image below to start the slideshow.
Live Like a Local, runner up: Alexandra LoVerde, “Cultural Send-off Ceremony” — Mueang Khong, Thailand
Capture the Moment, honorable mention: Shreya Dhital, “Captured Colors (Holi Event)” — Cortland, N.Y.
Capture the Moment, honorable mention: Rameen Zehra, “Fall Frames (Moffett Center)” — Cortland, N.Y.
Capture the Moment, popular choice: Nadia Maestro-Page, “Never stop exploring” — Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Capture the Moment, first place: Elsa Agarius, “Beautiful sea (in Canada during Fall Break)” — Canada
The Faces of Study Abroad, honorable mention: Michael Murphy, “The Elephant Experience” — Phuket, Thailand