In July 2022, Loyola students and alumni won an 8,000 Euros tuition scholarship and round trip airfare for a Loyola student to study at Ireland’s Maynooth University during the Spring 2023 semester, according to a press release published by the University.

Current students could apply for the 8000 euro scholarship up until last week, according to Parjest Thevenard, Loyola’s study abroad advisor.

Three former Loyola students won Tourism Ireland’s 2022 Global Greening Competition. This will allow one lucky student to study abroad with this scholarship, according to the press release.

The award was won by Maura Lindsey and David Barth, who both graduated in spring of 2022 with degrees in digital filmmaking, as well as Zoe Stambaugh, who also graduated in spring of 2022 with a degree in graphic design, according to Loyola’s press release.

The press release also highlighted the team of three’s winning Instagram slideshow which featured several photographs, taken by Barth, of Lindsey performing Irish dance at different locations across campus.

Stambaugh said she heard about the Global Greening Competition through her work as a peer advisor in Loyola’s study abroad office. She said she was motivated to enter Loyola into the competition because of the amount of students who have been unable to study abroad due to financial inability.

“I was hoping that the scholarship could help a student that might not otherwise have the opportunity to go abroad to be able to,” Stambaugh said.

The idea for the now award-winning slideshow originated from Stambaugh, according to the press release, who said that she “wanted to create a post that was unique while showing our beautiful campus and connecting it to our students and Irish culture”.

Stambaugh heard about the win through a post on Loyola’s study abroad Instagram on her birthday.

“I’m glad to see my work on Instagram and the time put in by everyone who had a part in the original submission successfully win the scholarship for a future study abroad experience,” she said. According to Thevenard, this is the second time that Loyola has been invited to participate in the Global Greening Competition.

“We are extremely proud to be the grand prize winners of a study abroad scholarship and roundtrip airfare for one of our students to attend Maynooth University in Ireland next Spring,” she said.

The Global Greening initiative began in 2010 as a marketing campaign for St. Patrick’s Day. The iconic Sydney Opera House was the first in a long line of global attractions to “go green” in order to promote Ireland as a study and tourist destination. According to Tourism Ireland’s webpage, Global Greening aims to bring positivity to the more than 70 million people around the world who have links to Ireland.

Lindsey said Stambaugh contacted her and explained the organization and project because Lindsey has a background in Irish dance.

Lindsey said she competitively partook in Irish dancing from ages 6 to 18 and was happy to help, as she always wanted to go Ireland and wanted to help others with similar goals.

“Any way I can help out another student go achieve their dream or go and pursue their academic studies in a place that they want to be in, I’m all for it”, Lindsey said.

Lindsey said she then reached out to Barth, who she knew was working on his photography on the side.

Barth said he was glad to help out a friend.

“From how she described it to me it just seemed like a good opportunity – being able to send someone off to a cool study abroad program,” Barth said, who added that he never got to study abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What started out for Barth as a favor for a friend, has made him an award winning photographer, which, he said, is a nice addition to his resume. Barth said that, after graduating, his photography had taken a backseat but that this news encouraged him to pick up his camera once more.

“It’s like a little motivation boost. I got pretty wrapped up in my work right after graduating so I hadn’t really done much photography. But after seeing that, I’m like, I should really start doing that again, using it as a side gig,” Barth said.

Lindsey said she was also excited to hear about their win. “I would love to hear about the students’ time in Ireland and what they’ve learned and all the experiences they’ve had. I’m just glad I can bring a little Irish love and Irish culture to people,” she said.