San Mateo County Community College District students should be encouraged. The Study Abroad Program hosted at Skyline College has seen an uptick in the number of students receiving awards. The Study Abroad Office has adopted a very intentional approach and it is working. As a result of the hard work, Michelle Pineda and Elizabeth Flores Medina from Cañada College, Jennifer Campuzano from College of San Mateo and Zhuoying Deng from Skyline College are 4 of approximately 1,000 American undergraduate students from 386 colleges and universities across the U.S. selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to study abroad during the Spring 2018 academic term in Florence, Italy. The students received a combined $15,500 in scholarships. The funding is an increase in the number and funding of scholarships received by San Mateo County Community Colleges and the acceptance rate by the Gilman Scholarship Program.
|
Scholarship |
Amount |
|
U.S. Dept. of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship |
$15,500 |
|
Institute of International Education Generation Study Abroad Travel Grant |
$8,000 |
|
Institute of International Education Generation Study Abroad Scholarship |
$5,000 |
|
American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) |
$2,000 |
|
San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation |
$500 |
|
Total Scholarship Funding |
$31,000 |
Gilman scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs. The program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go. Students receiving a Federal Pell Grant from two- and four-year institutions who will be studying abroad or participating in a career-oriented international internship for academic credit are eligible to apply. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages, and economies — making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.
The Institute of International Education (IIE) announced recipients for the Generation Study Abroad Travel Grants. Three students from Skyline College – Xueyan Cai, Angelo Domagas, and Pearl Ibeanusi and one student from Cañada College – Michelle Pineda – received the grants. Xueyan and Angelo received the grants to participate in the new Global Internships Program in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively. Pearl received the grant to participate in the short-term Study Abroad course to South Africa to be led by Skyline College Professor Danielle Powell in Summer 2018 while Michelle received the grant to study abroad in Florence, Italy. The SMCCCD Study Abroad Program had also applied for the Generation Study Abroad Scholarship through the Institute of International Education. Hannah Dineen from Skyline College and Amber Myers from College of San Mateo received these scholarships to study abroad in Florence, Italy.
The American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation Study Abroad Scholarship recipients were Michelle Pineda from Cañada College, Jodie Lewis from College of San Mateo, and Zhuoying Deng from Skyline College. All three students will be studying in Florence, Italy in the Spring 2018 semester.
San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) Study Abroad is the district-wide study abroad program housed at the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College. For more information about the program, faculty teach abroad opportunities and student scholarship opportunities please visit the SMCCCD Study Abroad website or contact Zaid Ghori at ghoriz@smccd.edu.
Article and chart by: Zaid Ghori Photo Credit: Stephanie Wells
