Creative Works Contest FAQs

President Shane Reese said, “Becoming BYU will require enriching the student experience…to this end we strive for every student to have an inspiring learning experience.”

We want to showcase your inspiring learning experiences through this year’s #ExperienceCFAC Creative Works Contest!

For the 2024 Contest, the following experiences can constitute as an experiential learning experience:

• Capstone Project (From Academic Year 2023-2024 (September 2023 - August 2024)
• Personal Projects Incorporating Concepts Learned In Class 
• Internship
• Study Abroad Program
• Field Study or Experience
• Service Project
• Conference 
• Symposium
• Immersive
• Student Job
• Performance Tour
• And More!

Please read the guidelines for each submission to better understand whether your experience is right for the contest.

The only difference between the essay contest and the visual media contest is the medium that you use to tell your story. Both will showcase an experiential learning opportunity that impacted you. Your story will be judged only in relation to other submissions of the same medium that you chose to submit to (for example, an essay submission will not be compared to a visual media submission and vice versa).

Contest participants can be any BYU student that experiences experiential learning opportunities related to the College of Fine Arts and Communications. All entries must be about experiences that occurred during Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, or Summer 2024 (academic year 2023-2024). Students must be enrolled in the college or a participant in a performance arts group or tour during the Spring or Summer semesters.

If you have more questions about whether or not your experience is eligible, please email cfacpr@byu.edu.

Great question! The quality of your submission will be based on your ability to share how impactful that experience was for you.

Here are some additional guidelines for crafting the perfect #ExperienceCFAC Contest submission:

1. First, plan ahead. Think of what experiences you will be having and try to plan how you could gather important assets that you will need to create the perfect submission.
2. Second, share your story. Winning submissions will be submissions that answer all of the questions outlined in the contest guidelines (even visual media submissions must include a brief description that answers specific questions) with a compelling personal narrative of how your experience affected you. If your experience has already happened, review any notes or documentation that you have of that time. If your experience has yet to happen, prepare to take notes on how your experience is changing you. Your experience is important, but we also really want to know about you!
3. Third, include an enticing visual. All essay submissions must include at least 3 photos that encapsulates your experience. Visual media submissions should be aesthetically crafted and representative of your inspiring learning opportunity. Remember, a picture (or a design, video, picture of an art project, etc.) speaks 1,000 words.
4. Fourth, review past winning entries. Take a look at what made previous winners successful, and discover what you can do to elevate your submission.