Study Abroad Photo Contest spotlights global experiences

By Elie Park     4/8/25 11:38pm

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, students gathered in the Ley Student Center to celebrate global experiences through photography. 

The 2025 Study Abroad Photo Contest returned in person March 28, showcasing winning submissions from students who had studied around the world. 

Clusters of students stopped to admire the vibrant images and read the stories behind them, chatting with the photographers about the people, places and moments that shaped their time abroad.

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“We’ve still been putting the photos out there over the last couple of years, but it wasn’t an actual event,” said Yahaira Verdejo, associate director of the Office of Study Abroad. “This year, though, we had an in-person exhibition, and it was really nice to chat with students and see them interacting with one another.”

For the winners, the exhibit gave them the opportunity to showcase their work to the local community. Student winner Maddie Jeffery said speaking to other students about her work allowed her to raise awareness about an underappreciated culture.

“Madagascar is often a forgotten corner of the world, so it was extremely valuable to just share that I studied abroad there,” said Jeffery, a Baker College junior. “At the exhibit, I also got to talk about how the country is so full of life, beauty and culture. I wanted my photos to offer a glimpse of what it’s really like and to show it’s worth experiencing.”

Maya Habraken, another winner, said the exhibit allowed her to share her own experiences and listen to the study abroad interests of other Rice students. 

“For some of the visitors, I asked where they were interested in traveling,” said Habraken, a Hanszen College junior. “I hope that maybe younger students who pass by the photos get excited about studying abroad and are inspired to consider it for themselves.”

Verdejo said that each photo submission includes not just the image, but a written description explaining its significance.

“We tell students that both the photo and the description will be evaluated – it’s a holistic submission,” Verdejo said. “A photo might be stunning, but the description needs to reveal the story behind it.”

Jeffery said writing the description of her photos compelled her to contemplate her study abroad experience. 

“That part of the submission really made me think deeply about how the experience impacted me,” she said. “I found myself reflecting on how I learned to interact with a new culture – one I initially didn’t feel part of – and eventually found a sense of belonging in just four months.”

Jeffery’s photos reflect her growing connection to Madagascar’s culture. One image shows a lemur perched on her arm during a visit to a lemur conservatory. 

Jeffery said she aimed to capture not only her exposure to a rare species, but also the ecotourism unique to Madagascar. 

“I used to think zoos were awful, and in a lot of mainstream contexts they are,” Jeffery said. “But in countries like Madagascar, which rely on ecotourism to support their natural resources rather than deplete them, it offers a different perspective. I chose this photograph to highlight that cultural difference.”

Another of Jeffery’s submissions focuses on the daily ritual of caring for zebu: humped cattle that hold both economic and spiritual significance in Madagascar.

“It was just beautiful to see these people who are still embodying traditional beliefs,” Jeffery said. “Even in my host family, I saw how these values were reflected. I wanted to show the way people care for the animals, and in doing so, care for themselves.”

Habraken’s photos similarly captured the personal relationships she built while studying in South Korea. One photo was taken during a visit to a temple in Busan, where she reunited with a friend she had originally met at Rice.

“One of the biggest parts of the experience was really the people that I met and became friends with,” Harbarken said. “I think beyond the photos themselves, it is sort of representative of the connections that I made while I was there.”

Another of her photos documented a uniquely Korean college tradition known as Membership Training – a bonding retreat for university clubs.

“I joined a club at Yonsei University, and for our MT, we visited Changdeokgung Palace,” Habraken said. “It gave me insight into contemporary Korean student life, and I wanted to capture the fun memories I made while participating in something so distinctively part of the local culture.”

While winning the contest offered students a platform to share their stories, the  winners found the process of creating their submissions equally impactful.

“The most valuable part was the reflection,” Jeffery said. “Even if I hadn’t won, I wanted to submit my photos just to reflect on my experience — to visually capture it and understand what I was documenting on a deeper level.”

Habraken said the act of going through her photos brought its own joy.

“I think it was fun to revisit all my pictures,” Habraken said. “Even though not every moment made it into my final submission, I got to take a moment to just reminisce about the meaningful experiences and relationships I made.”

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