The Writing Center Free Rice Competition

The Writing Center began the Spring Semester with a fun, educational competition open to the entire AUK community. Participants played an interactive English vocabulary game in which each correct answer resulted in the donation of 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. Excitement built up as students, staff, and faculty tested their vocabulary to the limit as they progressed from Level 1-60. Feedback from players included comments such as, "This was a very enlightening game - it broadened my horizons and I learned new words for my vocabulary," "I made a huge, big list of new words that I will use," and "This was the best AUK event ever!"

But can 10 grains of rice really make a difference?

According the Freerice figures, it takes approximately 4,500 grains of rice to feed one person for one meal. The AUK community raised over 161,700 grains of rice during the duration of the two-week competition, which equates to providing a meal for 36 people! While this number pales to insignificance when compared to the number of starving people around the world, every grain of rice makes a difference to a hungry person. The enthusiastic response to this Writing Center initiative from the AUK community highlighted the spirit of giving - over 52 students visited the Writing Center in Room A207 to give generously of their time and brainpower. Staff and faculty participated as well. Everyone who took part in this competition is a winner who helped eradicate world hunger.

The top 3 student winners of the Free Rice Competition were Luke Rangel, Mark Rangel Mark Rangel, and Hanan Al-Awadhi, respectively. In the Faculty category, it was a tie between Dr. Kathy Nixon and Dr. Ken Downs, while in the Staff category, Dr. Kathy Kleypas was the sole winner.

Freerice (www.freerice.com) is a non-profit website that is owned by and supports the United Nations World Food Program headquartered in Rome, Italy. Their two-fold goal is to provide free education for everyone and help alleviate hunger by providing free rice to the needy.

The actual rice is paid for by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on the Free Rice website. Linking education to the issue of world hunger is a means to help others while simultaneously helping yourself. In the words of Free Rice, "Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself." The categories include such diverse subjects as English, Art, Geography, Math, Languages, and Science. So, the possibilities to incorporate this concept into curriculums around the world are just a click away. Kudos to AUK for helping feed the world!

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 19th February 2013

Photography by the Office of Public Affairs (C) 2013