Boren Scholarship

Initial Wait Leads K Student to Boren Scholarship

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Boren Scholarship Winner Kimberly Yang
Kimberly Yang ’19 has received a Boren Scholarship and will study at Capital Normal University in Beijing.

“Pleasant surprise” and “final exams” rarely are uttered in the same breath even at Kalamazoo College. Yet Kimberly Yang ’19, of Grand Rapids, Mich., received welcome news around finals time this past spring.

Yang first was placed on a waiting list in mid-April after applying for a Boren Scholarship, a prestigious grant that allows students to study abroad in geographic areas, languages and fields deemed critical to U.S. national security. Then, a congratulatory email came at the end of May, sparking her plans to spend a term in Beijing this fall before returning to the U.S. in March. She has received a scholarship and will study at Capital Normal University.

Yang, an economics and political science major and Chinese minor, departs for China in less than a week. She said the trip will provide her with international experiences representing the U.S. while living abroad in a capital city.

Boren Scholarship winners commit to U.S. federal service for at least a year after they graduate. Yang said she hopes to serve in a role in environmental relations.

“With the United States pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, China ironically is the leading proponent in the effort to reverse climate change,” she said, noting how China’s urban development affects the environment. “I want to pursue a career with the environment in China, especially with the demolition and fast-paced construction the country has been witnessing.”

Yang was born in Texas, but spent most of her high school years in Shanghai. She ultimately chose K for college because its small size seemed less intimidating as she was reacclimating to the United States. Last year, Yang served as the vice president of the Asian Pacific Islander Student Association at K. She also has served the campus as a student representative to Teach for America, a professional corps of leaders who commit to teaching in low-income schools and work to increase their students’ opportunities.

Yang joins Ihechi Ezuruonye ’19, of Southfield, Mich., and Molly Brueger ’19, of Arlington, Va., as the Boren winners from K in 2017-18. Ezuruonye and Brueger will study in Japan. Boren Awards are worth up to $20,000 depending on the student’s financial need and how long the student stays overseas. The grants are funded by the federal government through the National Security Education Program.

Boren Awards are named after former U.S. Sen. David L. Boren, the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program. Boren Scholars (undergrads) and Fellows (graduate students) study in countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.

 

East Asian Studies Students Earn Boren, Fulbright Honors

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Three East Asian studies students at Kalamazoo College have earned prestigious competitive grants, allowing two to study abroad in Japan in the 2017-18 academic year, and a third to serve in an English teaching assistantship in Taiwan. Ihechi Ezuruonye ’19, of Southfield, Mich., and Molly Brueger ’19, of Arlington, Va., secured Boren Awards. Dejah Crystal ’17, of Standish, Maine, has earned a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award.

Boren Award Winner Ihechi Ezuruonye
Boren Award honoree Ihechi Ezuruonye will study for 11 months in Kyoto, Japan.

Boren Winners to Study in Japan

Boren Awards are worth up to $20,000 depending on the student’s financial need and how long the student stays overseas. Ezuruonye and Brueger were granted the maximum. The grants are funded by the federal government through the National Security Education Program, which focuses on geographic areas, languages and fields deemed critical to U.S. national security.

The awards are named after former U.S. Sen. David L. Boren, the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program. Boren Scholars (undergrads) and Fellows (graduate students) study in countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East. The winners commit to federal service for at least a year after graduation. Ezuruonye and Brueger will study from September 2017 to August 2018 in Kyoto, a former Japanese capital, at Doshisha University.

Ezuruonye, an international and area studies and East Asian studies double major with a Japanese concentration, sees similarities between Asian and African cultures, prompting her interest in Japan’s language, history and food. She hopes to work at the U.S. Embassy in Japan as an ambassador or deputy ambassador after graduation to fulfill her federal obligation. The study abroad program first attracted Ezuruonye to K.

Boren Award Winner Molly Brueger
Boren Award honor Molly Brueger will study for 11 months in Kyoto, Japan.

“Learning the language and the culture helps us understand the people,” Ezuruonye said. “If we’re more willing to talk and we’re learning the same language, it brings us one step closer together.”

Brueger, an international and area studies major with Japanese and Chinese emphases, first learned of K through the “Colleges That Change Lives” book by Loren Pope. Pope is a higher-education expert and former New York Times education editor, who describes 40 dynamic colleges, including K, that excel at developing potential, values and initiative in students, while providing the foundation for success beyond college.

Brueger wants to serve abroad in the Peace Corps as an English teacher to fulfill her federal service requirement. She credits East Asian studies Professor Dennis Frost, International Programs Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft, Adviser and Assistant Professor of Chinese Yue Hong, and two of K’s previous Boren winners – A.J. Convertino and Amanda Johnson – for a combination of encouragement, recommendations and essay assistance.

“I was surprised because (Boren scholarships) are so competitive,” Brueger said. “I’m really honored to receive the maximum. I’ll definitely put it to good use in becoming proficient in Japanese.”

Brueger will intern at the Chengdu Consulate General in China’s Sichuan Province this summer before heading to Japan.

Fulbright Recipient Traveling to Taiwan

Crystal is graduating in June with a degree in East Asian studies on a China track after just three years at K. Her study abroad experience took her to

Fulbright Winner Dejah Crystal
Fulbright winner Dejah Crystal will serve in a teaching assistantship in Taiwan.

Capital University in Beijing, although she will serve in an English teaching assistantship for 11 months beginning in August on the small Taiwanese island of Kinmen. After this opportunity, she would like to continue teaching in East Asia or seek a graduate degree there.

Crystal agrees she has found her professional calling in teaching because she has loved working with children through K experiences such as Community Advocates for Parents and Students (CAPS). CAPS is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, which provides tutoring opportunities to Kalamazoo Public Schools students from kindergarteners to adults.

Crystal’s Fulbright-application process began as a first-year student when she heard another student was applying for a similar opportunity. After a couple of years of reviews from K’s Fulbright Committee, essay assistance from faculty, and general support from family, she thanks people such as her mom, stepmom and dad, Frost, Hong, Wiedenhoeft, K Global Health Director Diane Kiino and Professor Madeline Chu.

“I’m incredibly honored and excited,” Crystal said.

The federal government created the Fulbright Program in 1946, naming it after U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and the people of other countries through education, culture and science. Crystal is one of about 1,900 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research or teach abroad through the program in the coming academic year.

K Student Earns Boren Scholarship to Study in China

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Junior A.J. Convertino – a Canton, Mich., native and a son of Val and Rick Convertino – has received a $20,000 David L. Boren Scholarship to study Chinese for six months in Beijing during Kalamazoo College’s winter/spring quarters.

A.J. Convertino in the quad at K College
A.J. Convertino will study for six months in China, where he will be immersed in Mandarin Chinese and work in an internship.

Boren Scholarships are funded by the federal government through the National Security Education Program, which focuses on geographic areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to United States national security. About 170 students nationwide earned the scholarship last year.

The prestigious scholarship is named for former U.S. Sen. David L. Boren, the principal author of the legislation that created the National Security Education Program. Boren Scholars (undergrads) and Fellows (graduate students) will live in 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East, and study 37 languages.

A.J., an East Asian studies major and a political science and Chinese minor, said he chose K for its academic and athletic opportunities as well as the study abroad program. He is a wide receiver on the K College football team and a member of the a capella group Kalamadudes, which he feels gave him an advantage in the rigorous Boren application process that required two essays and three letters of recommendation.

A.J. said he started taking Chinese when he attended Plymouth High School.

“At first I think taking Chinese was about me wanting to be different from everybody else,” he said. “We had more than 20 Spanish teachers and only one Chinese teacher. But it’s rare for a native English speaker to be fluent in Chinese.”

The scholarship will be a life-changing opportunity for A.J. When it’s done he will fulfill a two-year service obligation with the federal government in a department with national security responsibilities. A.J. hopes his service eventually leads to work as a Foreign Service officer in the U.S. Department of State.

Most football players at K need to miss their junior season if they decide to study abroad in a program like A.J.’s given when most of the programs are available. However, A.J. worked with Center for International Programs Acting Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft to find a six-month opportunity with enough credits that begins Dec. 28. He will depart Dec. 26 for Beijing’s Capital Normal University.

A.J. credits Wiedenhoeft, football coach Jamie Zorbo, Associate Professor of Political Science John Dugas, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Madeline Chu, and Assistant Professor of Chinese Yue Hong for a combination of hard work, letters of recommendation, essay assistance, teaching styles and dedication for his upcoming opportunity.

The first part of A.J.’s experience will involve a language pledge, meaning he must speak Mandarin inside and outside the classroom. After the January term, he will have a two-week break for Chinese New Year before spring semester when he will have an intensive language course with a Chinese politics or history course in English. On top of that, he will work in an internship for eight hours a week, but he won’t know what his internship will involve until he gets to China.

“I’m really excited (for the internship) because I made it clear on my questionnaire that I’m interested in government and politics. Learning the vocabulary of that setting would really help me in my career,” A.J. said.

A.J. will return to the U.S. on June 24. Luke Winship (China/Mandarin), Erin Eagan (Senegal/Wolof) and Amanda Johnson (China/Mandarin) are previous Boren Scholars from K.