Mitch Smith doesn’t remember writing the essay that would earn him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In fact, looking at it again five months after he wrote it, he said he would change some things about it.
But that essay is what earned the University of Nebraska-Lincoln freshman the chance to spend the summer with a world-renowed journalist.
New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof announced in his column Thursday that Smith, a news-editorial major, had won the journalist’s fourth annual Win-a-Trip contest.
By winning, Smith will spend the summer traveling with Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, on a reporting trip in Africa.
“He’s a terrific writer who has never been outside the United States,” Kristof wrote of Smith in his column, “so stay tuned for his blogging and videos from Africa later this year.”
Smith first found out about Kristof’s contest in his comparative politics class, a class he really didn’t want to take and didn’t really enjoy. After his teacher asked the students to read the New York Times on a daily basis, Smith read the column where Kristof announced the contest.
Kristof often writes about human rights and the problems developing countries face, so the New York Times started the contest as a way to get young people involved.
On a whim, and in less than an hour, Smith wrote his application essay for the contest. In the essay, which can be read on Kristof’s blog, Smith wrote that he had never been out of the country, and was ready to do something to make a difference.
“If – for some reason – you find the application of an unseasoned Midwesterner at a less-than-prestigious school to be intriguing, I can promise you that you won’t be sorry,” Smith wrote. “This is the epitome of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference and witness the world’s problems firsthand.
“I can assure you it is an opportunity that I would not squander.”
Four months after sending that essay, Smith found out he was a finalist out of 893 applicants.
And on Sunday, “two days before I was going to be resigned to sign up for summer school,” Smith got a call from Kristof saying he had been chosen. Smith said the first thing he thought of after being told he had received the honor: “I need a passport.”
Smith said he felt like he had already won after being named a finalist. After all, he was among students from Columbia University, Stanford University and other top-notch schools.
And while he was excited by Kristof’s phone call, he said it was subdued, because he realized the work that lies ahead of him.
“You win, and now you’ll be relied on to make it worthwhile for these people.”
katiesteiner@dailynebraskan.com
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