48-Hour Twitter Contest for Free Enrollment at MatadorU [UPDATE]

My twitter name is @toddwassel

I’d like to enroll in MatadorU as I am getting serious about my travel writing, on my blog, with article submissions and I’m in the middle of writing a travel memoir about my 1200 km walking pilgrimage in Japan.

Great idea for the contest by the way. Cheers

@20sTravel here. I’ve wanted to sign up for the writing program for quite some time but it just doesn’t fit in my budget!

I’ve wanted to join Matador’s Travel Writing program since I last heard about it a couple of months ago, however I haven’t been able to come up with the extra budget to participate. Travel is my passion and my dream in life is to experience the world and share my stories on a profitable travel blog. Thanks everyone!

Twitter: @TravelingNYRfan

Living the “typical” 9-5 lifestyle doesn’t exactly motivate or allow enough time to develop my travel writing. An October trip to Southeast Asia was an incredibly inspiring experience where I wanted to document and showcase what I thought was a unique adventure. I began writing in a notebook and moved forward by starting an amateur blog, but am ready to propel myself and my writing to the next level. MatadorU travel writing is that next step for me, and I would appreciate an opportunity to challenge myself and join the wave of talented travel writers.

Hello Ross and Andy!!
My twitter name is @dianaellefson

I am very excited for the chance to win tuition to the travel writing university!!
I am a budding travel writer and have taken some classes elsewhere (NYU included) and feel that Matador would offer more relevant courses and instruction. I am often browsing the site looking for articles on the places I go or have been.

Aside from my http://www.dianaellefson.com site I also have a blog I have kept for 3 years on the adventures moving to NYC from Seattle.

If I win, both of my sites and myself will benefit from the travel writing tips I learn!
Thanks!

I recently authored my own eco-travel blog, chronicling my travels around the United States to learn about sustainability and culture. It was very successful, but it didn’t earn enough money and I had to cut my travels short.

I want to head out again, this time around the world, to meet worldchangers and explorers and to tell stories of people who are finding new ways to move through life. I need some training to make that happen. I want my writing to travel as far as I do, and I want to earn a shoestring living (at least).

This is a life passion for me, and a Matador education would help make it real.

@jessicareeder

Hey.
My twitter username is A_Dharma_Bum
I love writing and backpacking to the mountains.

I’ve started a new blog a while ago but I feel like my writing isn’t anywhere as good as the other blogs i’m reading. Off course writing and reading a lot will surely help but the MatadorU writing course will really improve my writing.
I’m currently enrolled in university but I’m spending my summer working in Spain; it woud be nice to write some of the assignments while I’m actually abroad!
(@inmyhands)

@SandySmith
I want to win because I can’t afford to pay for it right now!
Seriously though, writing and travel are the only two things in my life that have persevered through every awkward teenage phase, every New Years resolution and every little pity party I’ve thrown myself. Combining them as a career would not only make prodigious amounts of sense, it would also the best thing that could ever happen. Ever. I know I have some writing skill, I just need refinement.

@CeRusso checking in!

I’m currently an undergrad at Baruch College, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Latino Studies. Have an extreme passion for writing (fiction, short stories, memoirs, blogs, etc) and LOVE traveling, writing, learning, and studying new/different cultures, societies and traditions.

Would love to take Matador’s writing program to improve and sharpen my writing (especially travel writing) skills, but can’t because I’m on a budget. The life of a college student.

my twitter ID is @jennavanschoor

i would love to take part in matadorU’s photography program, as i am already doing the writing course and think that the combination of these two courses would help to kickstart my travel writing/photography career.

i returned from a south american trip recently, and since then i haven’t managed to fit back into the corporate job scene, so additional photographic skills would definitely help to improve my chances of becoming a successful freelancer!

I have lived in Mexico and Spain while teaching English, I have traveled extensively, and I have been writing educational materials, fiction, and nonfiction for a long time. Now I’d like to fuse my passions for travel and writing together and begin getting published. I want to enroll in MatadorU because the Matador Network focuses on real cultural experiences, fostering a sense of global community and humanism.
@danshafto

I am always looking to improve my travel writing and would love to join MatadorU for this reason and to become part of its great travel writing community.

@TravisBoyco

As an 18 year old student captivated by photography and travel, joining MatadorU would begin my young yet optimistic dream.

By reading the topics on Matador Network, my need for travel is fueled daily. Matador is partially to blame for my unquenchable longing for travel and photography experience!

By joining MatadorU, I would finally be starting what I have dreamed for quite some time. Even though I am only in a small town, I manage to work every day only to pay for camera equipment so I can escape 15 minutes away and feel like I’m in a far away place. Although things have only just began, my knowledge for travel writing and travel photography would greatly expand, and that is what is propelling me.

I think this would be a great opportunity & a great way to get back to my love of photography. It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to really spend time taking shots, but having recently been laid off, I have the time now & would love to be part of the new class.

michelle.

I am a student who’s passion for writing and learning about different people has turned into yet another passion; capturing the scenes of life through photography.

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
- Dorthea Lange

The ultimate mix of authorship In my case, I am interested in the stories that my photos of people and their everyday lives offers viewers; hopefully, a greater understanding of the differences but also a realization of similarities.

Best,
@DvRystr

@Meaghatronica

My name is Meaghan and in two weeks I will be graduating with a degree in Documentary Production from Emerson College. Traveling is not a hobby of mine, it is a duty. I feel strongly about making documentaries because it is a way to uncover important issues throughout the world and to expand the minds of those who watch. I feel that enrollment in MatadorU’s Traveling Writing Program will help me gain invaluable skills as a writer and enhance my skills as a documentarian.

I am a true believer in traveling alone on a small budget, packing light and going for the less traveled areas (or, for certain issues, going into the very heart of the matter). Immersion into foreign cultures and broadening perceptions is very important to me. I currently speak Spanish and French and I will begin Arabic studies shortly. I intend to apply to grad school next year for a degree in International Development and Social Justice.

With MatadorU’s help, I may have the chance to gain skills in travel writing. In return, I may be able to express my experiences abroad pertaining to destinations, culture, or even political and social issues.

I am very appreciative for this opportunity.

Thank you

I am new to the wonderful world of travel blogging and I would love the opportunity to broaden and enhance my skills.

My name is Amy, and I am a travelaholic.

It actually started at a fairly young age. When I was 15 I paid my own way to Germany. I got my first taste of travel, and I haven’t been the same since.

I was travel-free for 5 years, but I my thirst to see the world never was quenched.
In college, it just got worse. I studied abroad and backpacked through Europe, Morocco and Turkey. I thought that would make me better, but instead it just made me realize that I can’t resist traveling any longer. I became a full on addict.

After I graduated I went on a 6-week road trip around the USA. Then I moved to South Korea. In September I am going on a backpacking trip to Southeast Asia.

I’ve seen specialists, but sadly they say there is nothing that they can do. I’ve given up wanting to have a normal life, now I embrace my ‘problem.’ I want to win the MatadorU tuition so that I can spread the word about travel and show other travelaholics that they are not alone. I want them to learn to accept their constant lust for the unknown and new experiences, and to just stop fighting to the urge. There are more of us than you expect. Let me be the voice of the oppressed travelaholic everywhere.

@amytheexplorer

Hey David. It’s great that Matador offers free tuition to the no doubt amazing MatadorU. I’ve spent hours on the U’s homepage, I’m not sucking up, I’ve wanted to enroll since the earliest stages of the program. See, I’ve always appreciated travel in a way that just needs to be articulated. I’m working my way to becoming a professional writer too. Now, I want to combine the two.

Matador continues to have an influence on my travels and writing. The Community is an bountiful resource for planning a trip and meeting like-minded travelers. The writing is often profound and, to me, more relevant than the news and other journalism. What’s more, I’ll come across a post and think I know the author. Like we are of one opinion. Matador is current, creative and pretty comprehensive when it comes to a traveler’s lifestyle.

Since I graduated from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, I’ve survived off freelancing for our local weekly. I’m a music writer, food critic, beat writer and blogger. I’m also an editorial intern for Charleston Magazine, hoping one day to contribute to magazines like Outside, and Nat Geo Traveler. But I’ve realized I’m behind in understanding of how effective the internet can be for increased visibility; a skill I know MatadorU would help out with.

What’s next? I’ll be in Spain for Primavera Sound Festival at the end of this month and can’t wait to blog some indie music history in the making. It’ll be my first foreign festival. I will, hopefully, be accepted as a volunteer with Americorps come September, spending a year with the environmental newspaper, Appalachian Voices.

MatadorU keeps getting better and better. When I have the money, I will promptly enroll, but for now I sincerely appreciate everybody at Matador. Keep up the great work.

Brian

Uh oh :/ Can you please delete the one I’ve already sent in? For some reason the entire message didn’t come through. Probably because it’s so ridiculously long >,,,<.

Thanks so much for the opportunity. "Appreciative" is an understatement for how I feel about it.

I would like to experience the MatadorU Travel Writing program because I believe
that only as we share our experiences will we be better able to help the people of the world understand each other. It’s hard to call someone “different” or to look at them as “enemy” or “strange” when you get to know them. Through travel and writing this is possible–not only seeing and experiencing, but spreading the word.
To be able to show what it’s like in a yurt or how the food tastes or what the music means to a different culture is important to me. To show how we are all connected will help bring healing among us.

I love writing and travel and would love to be able to hone the craft of travel writing while traveling “light” (back pack) with my son to Bangladesh and India next fall.

The MatadorU Travel Writing course would help me in my dream of connecting.

My twitter @wildfornature

@ShariK8E

I love to write and I love to travel. Learning how to put the two together would be a dream come true. I also would love to learn to use photography to accent my writing. I’m creative by nature and get bored quickly with many 9 to 5 type jobs. I think Matador U is a possible step to my dream.

My name is Linda Beth Jones and I am new to travel writing and blogging. I always thought I wasn’t good enough to stand out in a sea of millions fighting to be location independent by writing about their passion. I finally found the courage to try, but don’t yet have the tools necessary to go very far.

I want to live passionately and spread that passion to my kids. I want for us to see the world, not just the bubble we currently live in. I want us to experience other cultures and lives, other environments, other ways of living. I want to inspire in the my kids the desire to connect and to make a difference. I would like to make this possible by becoming location independent through travel writing and blogging. I am hoping Matador U is the place to start.

Thank you so much for bringing this opportunity to my attention.
@TravelProTV

@ akharlamova

With little tastes of travel over the years, my hunger has grown deep, ravenous, and all-consuming. I want to see so many things that I’ve given up keeping lists, because I simply can’t put down all the things I think of daily on a piece of paper – it would detract from the time I need to get other things accomplished. Writing is a deep-seated passion of mine, and one that I would love to use in conjunction with my wanderlust in order to open the world to others, like it opens to me when I read about different countries, events, and peoples. I want to inspire and I want to learn to inspire.

There are so many reasons why enrollment at MatadorU would be a life-changing experience. I am one of those typical “stuck-in-the-office” people, working a 9-to-5 job and always looking at travel websites just waiting and wishing. I have planned on saving to enroll at MatadorU, however finances aren’t that great and things always seem to pop up. The last thing I want to do is spend the rest of my life sitting in this same dull office chair and checking the clock to hit 5:00. I need adventure in my life – I need to be pushed to explore my creativity. I believe that MatadorU will do just that. Thank you!

Jessica

In all honesty I have never won anything in my life… so to win this opportunity would be a first for me. Besides the pathetic fact that I have never technically “won” anything, having the chance to improve my writing with the assistance of Matador U’s amazing and talented team would allow me to take the necessary steps towards my passion.

The truth is – I am a recent college graduate who had to work full time while in school to afford tuition and to help my family. The traveling I have done took me endless nights of eating ramen noodles and shopping at the Salvation Army.

I have always taken an interest in travel writing, but I wanted to do some traveling before I made a decision to pursue this passion… Therefore I began to jet set with the pennies I had saved.

I have just returned from Haiti where I volunteered with an emergency medical team and at an orphanage. I had to return home because a good friend of mine by the name of “Sallie Mae” wanted to speak with me… Needless to say I found my passion of traveling when I was completely immersed in such a rich culture and a beautiful country – Haiti – I had blogged about my experiences in Haiti and noticed the power of words. I had the ability to share with family, friends, and associates the work that I was doing and the reality of the situation.

I want to be able to share not only my stories, but others stories as well… but with more power. That is why I would be blessed to win this opportunity to become a part of Matador U; it would help me move toward my dream of sharing my words with the world and also be my first “win”!

@EBlandina

@valentinavitols LOVES Matador Network. Do I need more reasons than that one to be here? Maybe. But that is the most important now.

Thank you for giving this opportunity to your followers.