St. Michaels University School (SMUS) in beautiful Victoria, BC, Canada is giving one North American student the opportunity to have their most unforgettable school year. The Best School Year Ever® contest is your chance to take your education to the next level by studying and living at one of Canada’s most prestigious boarding schools.

SMUS believes that a valuable education is about more than just sitting in a classroom absorbing facts and numbers; you need to experience learning to get the most out of it. You’ll take challenging classes that excite and inspire you, you’ll gain skills while learning to kayak, surf and rock climb, and you’ll be supported by the best teachers and university counsellors, who will help you get into the college of your dreams.

You have until January 11 to enter The Best School Year Ever contest by making a 2-3 minute video telling us about yourself. That’s it – a 3-minute video is all that stands in your way of having the best school year ever.

And SMUS made it even easier for you. They asked previous winners and runners up of The Best School Year Ever contest to give you some tips on how to make a great video that will catch the judges’ attention. (Watch the full video to hear all their great advice!)

Here are three of their tips that didn’t make the video:

1-    Be yourself – Don’t pretend to be the kind of student you think SMUS is looking for… because that doesn’t exist! The winner will be someone who shows us who they really are and what they are passionate about.

2-    Don’t read word-for-word from a script – The best way to come across as yourself is to speak from the heart. Instead of reading from a script, just think ahead before you hit the record button and know what messages you want to get across in your video. Don’t worry if you stumble or need to glance down at a bullet point every once in a while, either – not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera, and that’s okay.

3-    Be bold, take a chance – You have a life-changing opportunity at your fingertips right now. SMUS students are encouraged to try new things and to step outside of their comfort zone, so the judges want to see you do that, too. And what’s the worst that could happen? You don’t win the contest?

The deadline to enter is midnight (Pacific time) on January 11, 2016.

The contest is open to students who are residents of the US or Canada entering Grades 9-12 for the 2016-17 school year.

For more information on the contest or to apply, visit BestSchoolYearEver.ca.

Watch the video below to hear more tips from the previous winners and runners-up of The Best School Year Ever contest!