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STORY ESSENTIALS

What's YOUR Story?

Decide what you would like to share with the SFU Community:

Your experience as a new student

• Participation in an SFU Program or Club
• Specific challenges or achievements
• Reflection as an upcoming Graduate or Alumni
• Inspiration as an Educator
• Advice for students

STORY ESSENTIALS

Prompting Q's

Not sure where to start? Consider the following Q's when composing your story or copy/paste for a Q + A format

• What's one thing you've learned about yourself since starting at SFU?
• How do you handle homesickness, if at all?
• How do you stay connected with your home culture while at SFU?
• Memorable experiences where you were introduced to a new cultural practice by friends/ classmates
• Challenge you faced as an international student and how you overcame it? (can be about your academic journey, cultural differences, making friends/ connections, navigating seasons, etc.)
• What's one piece of advice you wish someone had given you before you came to SFU?
• A place or activity at SFU that has become your "home away from home" and why.
• What aspects of Canadian culture or lifestyle have you found intriguing or different from your home country? How have you explored and embraced these differences?
• Looking back, how do you feel you've grown personally and academically since the beginning of your journey at SFU?
• Are there specific moments or experiences that stand out in your self-development?

STORY ESSENTIALS

Written Content

• Short format ~ 200-400 words

• Write a compelling and descriptive title

• Create an informative and powerful opening sentence that will compel a reader to continue to read your story

• Use accessible, universal language
  • Visit the Student Learning Commons (SLC) website for tips on accessible and inclusive language
• Embed hyperlinks to relevant articles, websites, employers, programs, research studies, statistics, etc
• Proofread for grammar and spelling

STORY ESSENTIALS

Image, Links, and Social Sharing

• Decide if your Lead item will be a single image or an image slider

• Image: As this is your story, add a landscape image of yourself that is either a close-up profile or of you in action. Images should be taken by yourself, or properly credited with permission gained for anyone else included in the image.

• Recommended image dimensions: 900 x 600 pixels. Make sure your image is in a high enough resolution and less than 500 MB. If your image exceeds the limit, please compress them in a photo editing tool or an online tool such as imagecompressor.com

• Slider: You may add as many images as you would like, but each image must be smaller than 5 MB. If your image(s) exceeds the limit, please compress them. Put your lead image first and add captions as instructed to provide context.

• Additional media can be added to the body of your story using the Add Media links

• Embed hyperlinks to relevant articles, websites, employers, programs, research studies, statistics, etc.

• Stories are featured on SFU's social media accounts. Add your Instagram handle and profile URL so you can be tagged in the posting

Submission Steps

• You can directly submit your SFU Story when you are logged into the OLC 
• Follow the helper text in the submission form so your story will stream to the appropriate dedicated sections for programs, faculty, topics, etc.
• You are welcome to edit or remove stories you have published at any time
• If you would like editorial feedback or help publishing a story connect with our OLC Editorial Team at sfuolc@sfu.ca

Stories are intended to share an SFU experience and to connect, educate and inspire the SFU Community. All published items are reviewed and may be edited or removed at the editors' discretion.