Campus LifeNews

UWT Students Receive Prestigious Fellowships

The Office of Student Fellow­ship and Awards offers stu­dents the chance to apply to prestigious merit-based scholarship programs that support undergradu­ate or graduate students in their studies.

Omer Adam received the 2015 Rangel Scholarship, one of 15 Rangel Scholars nationwide selected from over 500 applications. He will be spending his summer in Washington D.C. participating in the Rangel In­ternational Affairs Summer Program learning about current issues in in­ternational affairs while gaining skills to help him prepare for a career in the field.

Omer’s interest lies in how reli­gion shapes foreign policy, and he hopes to improve relationships be­tween the U.S. and Muslim countries. He is the first UWT student to be chosen for this prestigious program and only the second UW student in the program’s history.

Faith Ramos received the 2015 Udall Scholarship, and is one of only 50 students nationally to receive this scholarship.

The Udall Scholarship awards 50 scholarships to sophomore and ju­nior level college students who are committed to careers related to the environment, tribal public policy, or Native American health care.

Ramos is an Urban Forestry in­tern, and wants to work with envi­ronmental justice issues. This schol­arship will help her research the links between urban forests and human health.

Lizeth Garcia was named a Ful­bright Alternate 2015, and is hoping to teach English in Mexico through the Fulbright English Teaching As­sistant Program in 2015-16.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Pro­gram awards funding for one aca­demic year of self-designed study, research, creative projects, or teach­ing English in one of over 140 coun­tries around the world.

Garcia will be able to receive the funding if someone withdraws from the program, or if extra funding be­comes available.

Kevin Bogue received the 2015 Bonderman Travel Fellowship, and plans to explore an array of urban environments throughout Southeast Asia, Turkey, and Southern and East­ern Europe.

Upon his return he hopes to gain new and exciting ideas on how to better serve his community and its social, economic, and environmental needs through more sustainable ap­proaches to urban planning and de­velopment.

The Bonderman Travel Fellow­ship provides $20,000 to 14 UW students every year for eight months of solo travel to at least six different countries in two main world regions.

Carmen Valenzuela-Burger was admitted to the Language and Cul­ture Assistant program, and will move to Spain and spend the next year assisting Spanish students in their English language learning.

She had the opportunity to study International Law and Human Rights in the Netherlands, which aligned well with her interests and Global Studies major.

The North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain pro­gram is sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education and the Edu­cation Office of the Embassies of Spain. Assistants teach English in K-12 public schools.

Aimee Huynh received the Spring 2015 Gilman Scholarship to Japan. For one semester, Huynh will be par­ticipating in the Osaka University Short-term Student Exchange Pro­gram, and will be able to experience a new culture and study the Japanese language.

“The Gilman scholarship allowed me to study in Japan with ease,” Huynh said. “Without the Gilman, I wouldn’t have been able to experi­ence Japan as much as I have so far and will have by the end of my trip.”

“By being able to experience all of these things, I have really changed my outlook of my future. I now know what I want to do academically for the upcoming years after gradua­tion.”

Huynh emphasized the impor­tance of standing out when applying for these fellowships.

“Number one advice I would tell students who want to apply for fel­lowships is to just do them,” Huynh said. “Put a lot of soul and heart into your essays, and do not be like ev­eryone else.”

 

Congratulations to all the recipients, and for more information as well as a full list of fellowships offered at UWT, visit http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/fellowships

 

Inte Taylor (left), Faith Ramos (middle), and Omer Adam (right) COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS