Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- Students who have taken advantage of study abroad programs available through the University of Wisconsin-Platteville had the opportunity to enter the fourth annual International Photo Contest, sponsored by the UWP Study Abroad Office. In total, 25 students submitted 64 photos from their travels around the world. The photos were displayed during a three-day exhibit in the Pioneer Student Center from April 21 to 23. A total of 138 votes cast by students, faculty and staff during the display helped determine contest winners.

Hanah Diebold's photo, "The Old Man and the Sea," earned the most votes among all submissions and was named Most Popular Overall. Diebold, a senior business major from Arcadia, spent the summer of 2008 studying in West Africa and shot the photo in the coastal country of Togo.

Senior English major Lucas Swalheim's submission "Kvitsoy Cross," was named the top photo in the Buildings and Monuments category. Swalheim is a native of Cottage Grove and spent the spring 2007 semester studying abroad in Stavanger, Norway. He recounted that he almost didn't capture a shot of the cross before his ferry left the island off the southern coast of Norway.

"We walked around the island the whole day, lost track of time and realized that our ferry would be coming soon. I decided that I wasn't leaving until I saw the cross, so I took off running to the part of the island that had it. When I got there I could see the ferry pulling into the small harbor. I quickly snapped as many photos as I could before I took off running so I could catch the last ferry to the mainland."

Senior electrical engineering major Ryan Nicholson of Mellen garnered two awards for his photograph "Milking Time in the Alps." UWP campus photographer Andy McNeill chose the photo as the winner of Best Overall. "I chose it because it had great composition and very vibrant colors, but overall for the composition," explained McNeill.

Nicholson's photo also earned best in the Scenery and Nature category. The photo was taken during Nicholson's travels after his school term ended in Darmstadt, Germany, where he studied in the spring of 2008. Nicholson was traveling in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, at the time the photo was shot. "It was around 5 p.m., and I was walking down from a mountain in the Alps," recalled Nicholson, "I looked behind me and there were cows waiting for me to get out of the way, because they wouldn't leave the trail that I was walking on."

In the People and Culture category, senior industrial technology management major Nathan Schlawin's photo entitled "Serenity," was voted best. Schlawin is from Appleton and studied in Newcastle, Australia, in the fall 2008 semester. The photograph captures a scene at the famous Bondi Beach in Sydney. "This photo was one of those shots that ends up on your camera, but you're not sure you remember taking it," explained Schlawin, "They say you can spend all day trying to line up a certain shot, and then turn around and snap something randomly, and that ends up being the better shot. 'Serenity,' was one of those shots." Schlawin is from Appleton.

Molly Mroch, a graduate assistant at the Study Abroad office, coordinated the contest. "The purpose of the contest is to make people aware of the plethora of international experiences available at UWP as well as offer recognition to students who have studied abroad".

Anyone wanting more information about study abroad programs may contact Mroch at (608) 342-1726 or mrochm@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Molly Mroch, UWP Study Abroad office graduate assistant, (608) 342-1726 or mrochm@uwplatt.edu. Written by: Ryan Broege, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, broeger@uwplatt.edu.