The University of Vermont Career Center is accepting submissions for the 2025–2026 Experiences Photo Contest. This annual photo contest invites UVM students to share a photo and brief reflection highlighting resume‑building experience they’ve had during the past academic year or will be having over the upcoming summer. Students can submit their experiences photo now through September 13, 2026.
The contest celebrates hands‑on learning beyond the classroom, including internships, research, part‑time jobs, fellowships, and service‑learning projects. Students who have completed 75 or more hours of experiential learning between September 2025 and August 2026 are eligible to participate.
Photo Categories
Five winners will be selected in the following categories: Most Inspiring Photo, Remarkable Experience, Impressive Purpose/Impact, Notable Challenge, and Best Advice. Each winner will receive a $250 prize redeemable at the Outdoor Gear Exchange, UVM Bookstore, City Market Co‑Op, or the Burlington Farmers Market.
"We're excited to add categories to this year's Photo Contest to help students showcase not only a pretty picture, but also the realities of their experiences—the challenges they faced, the impacts they realized—as well as tips they might offer peers inspiring to pursue similar experiences,” said Career Center Director Sarah Heath. “We hope it also will further engage the campus community by voting for these great experiences captured in pictures.”
Past participants have reflected on the contest being able to bring their experiences to life for fellow students. “I feel like this photo really brought in a human aspect to the conservation efforts in Botswana and brought my classmates right next to it,” said Reese Widowski '26, a finalist from last year’s contest who shared a photo of herself standing beneath a massive tree from the Baines Baobabs in Botswana.
In addition to submitting a photo, students complete a short reflection describing the skills and impact of their experience, helping them better articulate competencies such as problem‑solving, teamwork, leadership, and adaptability for future career pursuits.
The Experiences Photo Contest submission window is open now until 11:59 p.m. on September 13, 2026.