Just after celebrating its 50th anniversary, the MSU College of Arts and Letters, or CAL, started the I am CAL contest, an opportunity for its students to display another side of themselves in creative way.
“We’re encouraging students to make a video that’s less than two minutes that tells their story,” professional writing and communication junior Kathryn Palczewski said. “The purpose of the contest is for people to be able to share what they do outside of the classroom but that still makes them a CAL student.”
Palczewski, who also is the communication and social media intern for CAL, came up with the idea, and it was immediately supported by the rest of the CAL faculty.
“Ultimately, we are looking for a way for students to be able to interact online and to be able to make a name for themselves and show other people what they’re up to,” Palczewski said.
Palczewski said programs such as I am CAL are important at a large university.
“It’s a great opportunity to be able to stand out in a university that’s so big,” Palczewski said. “It’s a good way for them to get to know other students, to be able to share what their passion is about and what they put so much into outside of the classroom.”
CAL Communications Director Mike Jenkins agreed.
“A lot of it is just a matter of the importance of letting students understand that they’re part of a much greater thing,” Jenkins said. “There are others like them and others who aren’t like them that are all part of the college. So what we can do with these types of programs like I am CAL is show everyone the diversity — show everyone that the whole is greater than its parts.”
As a CAL student, professional writing senior Cait Quinn said she can see the benefits of the program.
“I think that they’re important so that students can be doing projects outside of class and they’re able to do something as a real-life application but also get something out of it, too, since it’s a contest,” Quinn said.
Jenkins said it is important for students to take part in contests and programs outside of the classroom environment.
“Involvement in your college and involvement with other students is an important part of college life,” Jenkins said. “It’s been shown time and time again that people who get involved while they’re in college, especially in the first year, not only do better, but that they tend to stay in school and they tend to reach their goals.”
The contest’s instructions are purposefully vague, allowing students to put their own spin on their submission, Palczewski said.
“There is a lot of room for creativity so we could get a huge variety of submissions, and it really allows people to be creative and kind of see the contest as they will,” Palczewski said. “They’ll really be able to show their personality through the videos they make.”
The winner of the contest will receive a Kindle and be featured on the CAL website. The winner will be determined by the amount of “likes” each video gets on the competition’s Facebook page. The deadline for the contest is Dec. 3, and voting will end on Dec. 7.
_To participate, send a video as a YouTube link to iamcalcontest@gmail.com. _
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