Article By: Clark Leonard
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:
UNG's Boren alternates are:
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."