Out of 844 American undergraduate students from different institutions across the country, three students from the University of Wyoming received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to travel and study or work abroad.
Covey Brown, Jaclyn Davison and Javaun Garcia were awarded the prestigious scholarship of up to $5,000, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
“The Gilman Program aims to make study abroad, and its career advantages, more accessible and inclusive for American students,” said Heidi Manley, the chief of USA Study Abroad at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in a release. “These diverse American students gain critical skills overseas that expand their career options and ability to make an impact in their home communities.”
Davison, a third-year communication major and marketing minor from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, is studying art history and cultural studies at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
“When I found out that I got the Gilman scholarship I was of course really excited because I had put a lot of time and effort into the scholarship and the whole exchange process,” said Davison. “Receiving the Gilman helped to solidify that I would really be able to make this dream of mine a reality, and I could not be more grateful. I felt proud to be one of the students chosen for the scholarship because I know that it is competitive, and comes with a lot of extra opportunities.”
Davison said she has learned a lot from the courses she has been taking, but the connections she is making with the people with different cultures and lifestyles is teaching her about the world in general.
Marketing major Covey Brown, from Cheyenne, plans to study at the Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Japan.
“I was very excited I received the scholarship,” Brown said. “I didn’t know until my abroad advisor told me.”
Javaun Garcia, also from Cheyenne, is majoring in management and planning to study at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Studying abroad can have benefits beyond academics, in scholarship founder Benjamin A. Gilman’s view.
“Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience,” Gilman on the scholarship webpage. “It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”
Since its establishment in 2001, the Gilman Program has distributed more than 28,000 scholarships to students in financial need, aiming to support a range of unrepresented college students and give them the opportunity to study abroad. This includes first-generation college students, minorities, STEM majors and others.
In order to be eligible for the Gilman Scholarship, students must be U.S. citizens and Federal Pell Grant recipients with good standing in an accredited institution. They must also be accepted or applying to a study abroad program in a country issued a Level 1 or 2 in travel advisory by the State Department, a warning to advice travels to exercise normal or increased caution.
In the past five years the Gilman Program has awarded about 3,000 scholarships to a pool of nearly 10,000 applicants each year, according to its website. Ninety-eight percent of awardees have never studied abroad before.
Awardees must also complete a follow-up service project to promote the scholarship and the educational and cultural impact it had on the student.
Additional information about the program and requirements is available at GilmanScholarship.org.
