Melissa Van Grinsven/Winonan

Bobsledding, figure skating, snowboarding and…selfie-taking?  While the last activity isn’t part of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, this new Olympic game began on the Winona State University campus.

The Web Communications office announced on Jan. 27 the launch of the social media event, Selfie-Olympics. Each week a challenge will be announced on the official Winona State Facebook page and in the WSU Update.

Mollee Sheehan, director of Web Communications, said the idea came when the office was trying to think of a way to launch the Winona State Instagram account.

“It’s no secret that most of the content on Instagram is a large percentage of selfies,” Sheehan said. “So coming up with the two together sounded like a fun way to build awareness of the Instagram account as well as showcase the creativity of our students.”

All challenges require a selfie of some sort and must be uploaded to Instagram using the hashtag #WSUSelfie. Once the week’s challenge is over, the submitted selfies are uploaded onto a photo album on the Winona State Facebook page. Voting occurs for two days where students “like” their favorite photo to offer their vote.

Three selfies from the week will win gold, silver and bronze prizes and will be entered into the final occurring at the end of the month.

Last week’s challenge – the first – was to create the Warrior “W” with a friend in an original way.

Unique photos were submitted, including friends creating a “W” with their hands while others took creativity from their hands to their heads—literally.

The gold medalists from the first challenge, Andrea Kerr and Johnna Miller, used their hair to create a Warrior “W.”

Kerr said she was the one who thought of their photo idea by making their hair into V’s and then putting them together to make the “W.”  Kerr also said she thought this was a good idea because it was something that no one else would think of doing for the challenge.

Both students were excited when they heard about this photo opportunity. Both agreed it was a fun competition to enter and easy enough to participate.

Miller said, “I read the Winona State letter that we get in our email inboxes every morning. The WSU Selfie-Olympics was listed in one of the articles, and I thought it sounded fun.”

The second challenge, happening this week, is to pose with a favorite professor for a funny photo.

“I think that the Selfie-Olympics are a fun way to show school spirit. It’s also a super easy way to win cool prizes. We won a backpack, water bottle and flash drive just for taking a photo,” Miller said.

The Selfie-Olympics will continue through the duration of the 2014 Olympics. New challenges will be posted every week on the Winona State Facebook page and in the WSU Update. Each photo must follow the social media guidelines.