"Lives Worth Living" Student Video Contest

Contest Winners Announced

The Dean of Students Office and the Office of College Relations are pleased to announce the winners of the College's first Student Video Contest.

Students were invited to submit short videos that captured an aspect of student life at Carthage. Amanda Croix, '11, of Bradley-Bourbonnais, Ill., took both first and second prize for her videos showing Carthage students getting dunked for a good cause and highlights from the Carthage swim season. Third prize went to Paul Hinkle, '12, of Wapello, Iowa, for his video "Lives Worth Living."

Thank you to all students who submitted video entries. Carthage will announce its next Student Video Contest in July.

Amanda graduated in May with a degree in physical education, sport and fitness instruction. A member of the swimming team for four years, she was named CCIW's Swimmer of the Year in 2011 and a College Swimming Coaches Association of America All-America.

"I was involved in many activities at Carthage, and sports and Greek life were the most important to me," she said. "I wanted the videos to portray what it means to be an athlete, and show the programs that Greek life provides."

Her video about the Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser held by Chi Omega and Tau Kappa Epsilon shows how the Carthage community comes together for a good cause, she said. "With 'Live to Win,' I wanted to help motivate my teammates before our big conference meet," she said.

Paul is an English major/secondary education minor. On his video "Lives Worth Living," he worked with a group of students who call themselves the Irreverant Orphans — "Yes, we know the name is spelled wrong," he said. The group includes the video’s co-creative directors Matt Hellyer, '14, and Joe Carrothers, '14.

"The idea was to create a video that showed, rather than told, of the experience at Carthage," Paul said. "During the thought process, we asked ourselves how we would measure the success of our lives and came up with the five positive qualities you see in the movie (purpose, intelligence, belonging, passion and leadership), as well as the five negative qualities (self-doubt, ignorance, isolation, apathy, and voicelessness)."

Paul made his first movie in Fall 2010 for the course Classroom Management for Secondary Teachers (EDU 3570). After that, he and some friends formed the Irreverant Orphans. "We've now released six videos, with two more in the editing process," he said. "The YouTube channel recently capped 1,000 channel views and we have 40 followers on our Facebook page. We are hoping to continue growing and producing movies." Watch Irreverant Orphans online. Any students interested in joining the group can contact Paul at phinkle@carthage.edu.

• Winners

• Contest Overview

• Why?

• Contest Guidelines

• Video Format Ideas

• Contest Entry Form