Jamar Shumaker

"I've heard German, French and Russian, and none of them attracted me," he said. "I've never heard anyone speak Chinese. It was an anomaly to me. I thought I would give it a shot."

Shumaker said it was the best decision he could have made.

"From the first day of class, I really enjoyed the language," he said. "It really made me happy, and I knew I had to continue to study this language."

Shumaker enrolled in UNG's Chinese Language Flagship program. It is an intensive five-year program that provides a unique opportunity for dedicated undergraduate students to achieve professional-level competency in Chinese language and culture.

In the program, Shumaker connected with Chi-Hsuan Catterson, senior lecturer of Chinese at UNG and academic director of its Chinese Language Flagship.

"She inspired and motivated me to learn the language," Shumaker said. "And then she recommended the Flagship students apply for the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS)."

The scholarship program is a fully funded overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students. Its goal is to broaden the base of Americans who study and master critical languages and build relationships between the people of the United States and other countries.

Because of his respect for Catterson, Shumaker applied to the highly competitive program. In spring 2019, he was one of four UNG students to earn the coveted scholarship.

"I was surprised and shocked and in disbelief," he said. "It didn't seem logical or real for me to be able to go to China for free."

The senior pursuing a degree in East Asian studies with a concentration in Chinese will spend eight weeks in China to learn the language and immerse himself in the culture.

"I will figure out how they live and see how different their life is compared to the American way of life," Shumaker said.

The 23-year-old said this kind of opportunity would not have been possible without the scholarship. He explained the HOPE scholarship and Pell grant have helped fund his college education. Extra opportunities such as a study abroad prove difficult to fund.

Therefore, Shumaker is in search of future scholarship opportunities to complete his education and study abroad. To earn the Chinese Flagship certification, he must complete a capstone year, which is a one-year study abroad trip to mainland China or Taiwan. And he must reach the required Chinese proficiency level in speaking, reading, listening, and writing.

Shumaker is eyeing the David L. Boren Scholarships to help pay for it.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's National Security Education Program, Boren scholarships are worth up to $20,000 for a recipient to spend up to a full academic year studying abroad. It provides undergraduate students with the resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experiences in areas of the world critical to the future security of the nation. They receive the scholarship in exchange for their commitment to work in the federal government for at least one year after graduation.

"I hope to go from the CLS to the Boren," he said.

Another source of funding is available to Shumaker.

"Jamar is also qualified to receive funding from the Flagship program for his capstone year studies either in Nanjing University in China or National Taiwan University in Taiwan, if he meets all the pre-Capstone requirements," Catterson said. "For the first time, UNG's civilian students are eligible for Flagship funding, starting June 2019."

Of course, none of this would be possible without UNG and its modern language teachers, Shumaker said.

"Our faculty who teach Chinese are the hardest working teachers I've ever had," he said. "They care about your learning. They put their hearts and souls in our learning, and my Chinese has improved with time because of it."