BREAKING NEWS – Just this evening we saw the exciting announcement from one of our favorite international humanitarian correspondents, that he has picked a local college student as the winner of the New York Times annual Win A Trip contest for budding student journalists.
As Nicholas Kristof announced it on his blog page:
Congratulations to Jordan Schermerhorn of Rice University, the winner of my 2012 Win-a-Trip contest! We had a terrific field of contestants, and the Center for Global Development in Washington sifted them down to the finalists. In the end, I went with Jordan in part because I admired her writing and thought she would bring an unusual skill set and passion to the trip. She’s an engineer who wants to work in global health, and yet she has never been abroad, and she had very strong recommendations from her professors. (New York Times/On the Ground)
Originally from San Antonio, and now studying bioengineering with a minor in global health technology, Ms Schermerhorn wrote her winning essay about her discovering a passion for people in need through a youthful pre-college trek to Texas’ Big Bend National Park. There she witnessed the now isolated Mexican village just over the Rio Grand of Boquillas, left impoverished by the post-9/11 border crossing and lack of tourist traffic. The winning essay is available on the New York Times site now, but some pictures and related story are also on the winner’s own blog.
Kristof indicates he is not sure yet where he and the winner may travel this year on his beat of usual world hot-spots; however, the contest video below will give us some clues of the kind of experiences Ms Schermerhorn will have. Congrats Jordan!