Meghan Leavitt
Congratulations to the Mount St. Mary’s students who are officially Fellowship Scholarship semi-finalists. Ford Rubel is a semi-finalist for the Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) and the Japan Exchange and Teaching JET) Program. Graduate student Gabrielle Hendricks is a semi-finalist for the Fulbright Scholarship along with senior Abigail Jarrett.
The Critical Languages Scholarship and JET program will allow for him to study Japanese in his post-graduate career.
CLS is for an intensive language school that would allow him to go to Japan over the summer paid for by the State Department. This is a great opportunity for Rubel because “it would put me in good standing for federal jobs like being a forgiven service officer or translator.”
The JET Program is a ten-month program that would enable Rubel to teach English to students in Japan who are within lower income households. This would be paid for by the Japanese government and would allow him to “be immersed in the Japanese culture and learn Japanese on my own.”
In an interview Rubel stated, “both programs have the benefit of being great resume boosters, however I have genuinely always dreamed of living in Japan, so I am happy to be considered for the programs no matter what.”
Rubel also mentioned how Professor Marco Roman helped him achieve this dream. This is because Dr. Roman had pushed the university to being the Japanese language back. Rubel states, “Without the cultural portion of Dr. Roman’s class, I would not have been as knowledgeable for my JET interview as well. Dr. Roman taught me that there are certain aspects of Japan’s culture that can only be understood by studying the language.”
Hendricks graduated this past fall semester and is a semifinalist for the Fulbright Spain Study Research Award which will allow her to conduct research about Spanish nationalism at the University of Salamanca in Spain.
While on campus, Hendricks was very active on campus by founding Model UN and served as the Managing Editor for The Mountain Echo.
The Fulbright Scholarship is paid for fully by the U.S State Department. Hendricks stated that this scholarship will benefit her future career because, “The specific opportunity of studying at the University of Salamanca gives me the advantage in terms of knowledge in International Studies.”
Hendricks also stated in an interview that, “As an International Studies student, winning the Fulbright would place me in a prestigious position and give and advantage when applying to jobs in my field.”
While this scholarship would give students great opportunities for their future goals it also presents opportunities for new learning experiences.
Hendricks states that, “I plan to conduct field interviews on Spanish nationalism. Through this field work project, I will be able to travel throughout Spain and talk to locals of the different provinces.”
Jarrett is a current senior at the Mount who is studying English with minors in both communications and philosophy. She is a semifinalist for the Bosnia-Herzegovina English Teaching Assistant Fulbright Award.
These scholarships are great opportunities for students such as Rubel, Hendricks and Jarrett to further their studies.
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