Announcing the Winners of CIEE's 70th Anniversary Alumni Storytelling Contest

From May 8 to June 8, CIEE alumni from all over the world submitted hundreds of photos, videos, and essays to the Alumni Storytelling Contest. It was an honor to hear so many inspiring stories that represent a wide variety of CIEE experiences - stories of independence, discovery, human connection, identity, transformation, personal struggles, and empathy that show just how impactful an exchange experience can be. Our team of CIEE staff judges carefully reviewed the entries and chose our top winners. Each winner will receive a $500 Visa gift card for future travels and exploration. Congratulations to the following winners:

Essay
Charles Lee (CIEE Study Abroad, Brussels, Belgium, 2013)
Erin Ruff (CIEE Study Abroad, Legon, Ghana, 2009)

Photo
Francesca Perticarini (CIEE High School Exchange USA, 2014-2015)

Video
Atenea Rios Buezo (CIEE Work & Travel USA, Montana, 2015)

We would also like to recognize some additional outstanding entries with an honorable mention. View the entries here.

Brooke Burrows, Essay (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program, Germany, 2009-2010)
Katia Stie, Essay (CIEE Study Abroad, Dublin, Ireland, 2015)
Akintunde Ahmad, Essay (CIEE Study Abroad, Legon, Ghana, 2016)
Michelle Dondero, Photo (CIEE Study Abroad, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013)
Wei Kai Lim, Photo (CIEE Work & Travel USA, New York, 2014)
Mitra Ghaffari, Photo (CIEE Study Abroad, Brazil/Cuba, 2014/2016)
Mahamed Barzanji, Video (CIEE Study Abroad, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2016)
Nadja Junghardt, Video (Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program, USA, 2015-2016)
Jack Brennan, Video (CIEE High School Abroad, Seville, Spain, 2016-2017)

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all the CIEE alumni who participated. If you missed this contest, don't worry! There will be more opportunities to share your story in the future. To get started now and learn more about how to get your CIEE story on the CIEE Alumni blog, email alumni@ciee.org.