Spring Valley Campus blogger Dylan Derryberry is one of five semifinalists in Microsoft Office’s Best Blogathlete contest
By Sara Fowler
Colorado Mountain College’s student blogging program is in its second year, and continues to grow. Our seven student bloggers (from each residential campus and the Summit Campus) write about their experiences, post photos and videos, and give an inside look at what it’s like to be a student at Colorado Mountain College. Their candid writing and creativity have earned them strong readership – many of out bloggers attract more than 100 views per week, with some well over 200.
Now, one blogger’s work could earn him top honors in Microsoft Office’s Best Blogathlete competition – and a chance to blog at the Vancouver Olympic Games.
Dylan Derryberry, who began blogging for the Spring Valley Campus in fall 2008, found out about the contest through a link on www.collegehumor.com, and noticed that two of his favorite writers from the site were judging the competition.
Since he began blogging for the college, he’s written about everything from campus events, to his experiences as an R.A., to participating in campus theater productions. Along the way, he’s captured his experiences with photos and videos, which he edits himself.
Criteria for the contest included having a blog for at least three months, and submitting an essay about why the blog should be selected.
“As you may be able to tell with my competition, it’s a lot of sports fanatics,” Derryberry said, “but I was sure to state in my essay that I could offer another side to the Olympics. I could describe these events as if they were new to me in a way that people who aren’t fans of the sport could understand.”
Derryberry, an Associate of Arts student with Theatre emphasis who plans to go on to earn a journalism degree, hopes to win the contest so he can help spread the word about CMC’s opportunities – plus, he could win some pretty great prizes.
The contest, which will be judged by Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld, who have a popular show on www.collegehumor.com; and five-time Olympic gold medal speed skater Bonnie Blair, will choose one student blogger and one woman blogger to win the grand prize. Each winner will earn a trip to blog about the Vancouver Olympic Games, a trip to the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and an Acer laptop with Microsoft Office software.
“Although the trips to Vegas and Vancouver are very nice, I’m really looking forward to the journalistic experience of this,” Derryberry said. “It will help my resume immensely and be a great doorway to my journalism degree at Kansas University.”
Now, Derryberry needs your help to get to the Olympics. As a semifinalist, the contest is now open to voters. Go to the contest voting page and click on Derryberry’s “vote for me” button. To vote, you can use your Facebook account, or provide an email address to log in. You may vote once per day through Nov. 29.
Says Derryberry of the possibility of winning the contest:
“I have definitely gained a new boost in the confidence in my work and hopefully I will continue this through life.”