SE North Carolina News

Nine UNCW students were awarded the U.S. Department of State's Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The scholarship provides financial support for students who want to study abroad or participate in international internships.

Grants enable students who demonstrate financial need to take advantage of opportunities to study or work as interns in other countries. The program offers up to $5,000 to help students offset costs.

"The Gilman awards are important because they incentivize and challenge students to think through the education abroad experience before it happens and get those thoughts down on paper as part of the application," said Dr. Michael Wilhelm, associate provost of global partnerships and international education at UNCW. "Students are motivated to articulate goals and outcomes. Pushing boundaries in terms of location or language is rewarded. The large number of UNCW student awards during this announcement cycle recognizes the variety of locations that our students are choosing as student abroad destinations, as well as the diversity of disciplines and backgrounds represented among our students who study abroad."

According to the program's website, the Gilman scholarship enables students to gain proficiency in diverse languages, cultures and skills. The program encourages students to study and intern in diverse countries and world regions and to study languages, especially critical-need languages.

"These awards benefit UNCW applicants on short-term programs during the academic semesters and participants on faculty-led programs in the summer, as well," said Dr. Wilhelm. "I also would like to thank Dr. Brian Chandler, associate professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, who advises students on their Gilman essays, as well as our team of study abroad advisers who work with students from day one."

This year’s Gilman Scholarship recipients are:

• Taylor Blackmon, India, social work major
• Arizona Carter, India, social work major
• Raul Gutierrez, France, French and international studies major
• Alexis Johnson, Japan, film studies and international studies major
• Natasha Piner, Poland, film studies and communication studies major
• Diandre Richie, Iceland, environmental sciences major,
• Ashly Tinkham, India, social work major
• Sonymelis Ramos Tosado, Argentina, biology major
• Christine Tregoning, India, social work major

-- Venita Jenkins

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Original source can be found here.