Four students win Boren scholarships

Four University of North Georgia (UNG) students have earned Boren awards to support language and cultural learning opportunities, and two were named Boren alternates.

The Boren Scholarship and Fellowship provides up to $25,000 for students to intensively study language and culture abroad. In exchange, students agree to work for the U.S. federal government for at least a year and receive coaching and mentoring upon their return to facilitate this objective.

"This year was almost more challenging than prior years because so many students were exhausted and the uncertainty of the global travel situation was well-known," Dr. Victoria Hightower, assistant director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office and professor of history, said. "Yet, our applicants persevered and worked hard to seize this opportunity. I am very proud of them for that. I am also grateful to the students' mentors and other faculty who have encouraged them throughout the process."

UNG's four Boren winners are:

• Thorin Beard, a senior who is part of UNG's Chinese Language Flagship and is pursuing a degree in East Asian studies, will spend the 2022-23 academic year completing his capstone in Taiwan.
• Jessica Woods, a senior pursuing a degree in East Asian studies and a minor in Russian, plans to study Korean at Sogang University in the fall and Yonsei University in spring 2023. A former dual enrollee at UNG and Lanier Technical College, Woods was successful in her second attempt applying for Boren.
• Zoe Rumbaugh, a senior who is part of the Chinese Language Flagship and the Honors Program, will spend the 2022-23 academic year in Monterey, California, at the Chinese Flagship Domestic Immersion Capstone. She is pursuing degrees in East Asian studies and modern languages with a Chinese for global professionals concentration.
• Caleb Petersen, a junior Honors Program student pursuing a degree in cybersecurity and minoring in Japanese, planned to spend the summer studying Japanese at Nanzan University before COVID-19 canceled the trip. Instead, he will take part in UNG's Japanese Summer Language Institute.

UNG's Boren alternates are:

• Danielle Kent, a junior pursuing a degree in international affairs with a concentration in Asia, applied to study Japanese for the 2022-23 academic year at Nanzan University.
• Anna Kubas, a junior pursuing a degree in psychology, applied to study Russian in Latvia for the fall semester. She is a member of the Corps of Cadets on the National Service Leadership Track.

Woods, who is from Boca Raton, Florida, said her academic year split between two South Korean universities will be well-rounded as she is taking with both language classes and other courses. She is eager to take advantage of the opportunity to start a career in the public sector, and eventually do research, something she said UNG put on her radar.

"This will help me get my foot in the door for government work," Woods said.

Beard, a resident of Alpharetta, Georgia, previously applied for the Critical Language Scholarship before winning the Boren to study in Taiwan. This will be his first time abroad.

"I want to experience new things and expand my horizons," Beard said. "This experience will help my career and allow me to see things from different perspectives."