Article By: Clark Leonard
The University of North Georgia (UNG) has been named a top producer of Boren Scholarship winners for 2022-23.
UNG tied for seventh nationally and tied for first in Georgia with five Boren recipients. The University of Georgia (UGA) was the other Georgia university with as many winners.
Boren scholars are awarded financial assistance up to $25,000 for educational coursework, unpaid internships or volunteer opportunities, primarily overseas, for immersion in languages critical to U.S. diplomacy. 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.
Indiana University topped the list with 11 recipients, followed by Brigham Young University and the University of Chicago with 10, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with seven, and the University of South Carolina and the University of Southern California with six. Four other schools tied UNG and UGA with five winners.
UNG's Boren recipients for 2022-23 were:
Kent said Dr. Tomoe Nishio, associate professor of Japanese, and the Center for Global Engagement prepared her well for her experience in Japan and helped her get to Nanzan. Boren allowed her to change from a semester study abroad to a full academic year. She said Dr. Anastasia Lin, director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office, helped her for three weeks fine-tuning her essay and application. Kent aspires to work in the State Department, potentially as a Foreign Service officer, and use her Japanese language skills to promote cross-cultural cooperation.
"Boren is going to help me really get my foot in the door," Kent said.Beard was thankful for the advice of Dr. Victoria Hightower, assistant director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office, in helping him secure the Boren and UNG's Chinese faculty in sparking his passion for the language.
"Having the opportunity to study abroad has been a highlight of my college career. I am thankful that I strived for it, managed to go so far out of my comfort zone and succeeded," Beard said. "There were hard times and times when I thought it wasn't worth it, but I'm thrilled I was able to see so many places in Taiwan, talk to so many people and learn so much."
Woods plans to work in diplomacy or intelligence analysis. The year abroad thanks to Boren was the first time she traveled outside the United States.
"I have learned so much linguistically and socially," Woods said. "Learning Korean in a Korean context has helped me improve quite a bit."
Hightower pointed to the resilience of UNG students in pursuing opportunities abroad in the aftermath of so many cancellations due to COVID-19. She highlighted the mentorship throughout the application process as pivotal for these students.
"We have top-quality language and content programs. Our students are incredibly equipped for these opportunities, but they don't always see themselves that way," Hightower said. "We encourage them to realize they can do this."