The Aperture Article Writing and Artwork Contests (“contest”) is administered by the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (“the administrators”).

 

Eligibility

 

Participation in these contests is eligible to optometry students who meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Are a Canadian resident (excluding residents of Quebec);

• Are a member of the Canadian Association of Optometry Students

• Currently attending a School of Optometry in either Canada or the United States.

 

Please note that if you are selected as a winner of either contest, you may be asked to provide proof of the above.

 

Aux étudiants francophones, gardez à l’oeil notre concours Good-Lite en avril!

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Contest details

 

ARTICLE CONTEST:

 

Please write a short article, between 500-800 words, on a topic of your choosing, with some relevance to our chosen theme. This can be anything from personal anecdotes in clinic, to describing your experience as an international/out-of-province student, or even an informal research article.

 

Aside from the above, there is no rubric or additional criteria to follow. We want you to be excited about writing an article for your peers to read, so please choose what you are passionate about writing most!

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ARTWORK CONTEST:

 

We’re excited to announce that this year, in addition to photos, we will also be accepting traditional and digital artwork as submissions. This can include anything from sketches to paintings to vector art. Please ensure that all photography and art included in your submission is original.

 

We would also like you to include a 100–300-word blurb explaining your image file and how it relates to the theme. We recommend one of the following formats, .JPG, .PNG, .PSD, or .SVG, and a resolution of 300 dpi where applicable. There are no set requirements for image size; note that your submission will automatically be considered for the magazine cover.

 

PRIZES

 

All winners will be contacted through email by March 11th, 2022 and receive their prizes by May 1st, 2022.

 

Prize money is awarded in Canadian dollars. Winners will have the option of receiving a cheque if they are available to pick it up at the School of Optometry in Waterloo; all other prizes will be through Guusto. We would like to thank our sponsors MNP, OSI, Heine, and COETF, without whom these contests would not be possible.

 

Top five article submissions:

1. $450

2. $350

3. $250

4. $150

5. $100

 

Top three artwork submissions:

1. $300

2. $200

3. $150

 

JUDGING PROCESS

 

In an effort to increase transparency, we have disclosed our judging process below.

Winning entries are decided upon by a team of CAOS Executives who have not submitted entries to these contests (“judging committee”).

 

The CAOS Communications team will anonymize the submissions, and entries will then be judged on a blind basis using a 5-point rating scale. Each member of the judging committee ranks their top five submissions, with first choice awarded the highest numerical score (5 points) and fifth choice awarded the lowest numerical score (1 point) based on originality, relevance to our theme, quality (high print quality), and overall composition. The five submissions with the highest cumulative number of points will be selected as the winners of each contest.

 

HOW TO SUBMIT:

 

Please first review the more detailed terms and conditions as listed on our website here.

 

We ask that you also carefully review the above regulations to ensure that your submission meets all of the contest requirements. Failure to comply with both the rules and terms and conditions may result in disqualification from the contest.

 

You may then submit your contest entry (writing, artwork, or photo) by emailing it to comm@caos.ca with subject heading: Aperture article contest or Aperture artwork contest.

 

Your article or blurb should be attached in a .doc file and include a link to view your photo or artwork (to maintain good quality since email will compress the file). 

 

The deadline for an article or artwork submission is March 1st, 2023 at 11:59 pm. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at comm@caos.ca.