Eight CCU students earn international scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan
Each of the students is working toward a major or minor in a language, yet their additional programs of study reflect a wide range of disciplines. Some of the students will spend two months in Taiwan in Summer 2023, while others will travel in September 2023 and spend a full semester in Taiwan.
Awardees include Emilie Carns, language and intercultural studies major and Asian studies and marine science minor; Yao Calhoun, marketing major and Chinese minor; Tahliek Dove, history major and Asian studies and Chinese minor; Brianna Edwards, intelligence and security studies major and Chinese minor; Jack Fleming, intelligence and security studies major and Chinese minor; Marisol Mandora Heredia, language and intercultural studies and marine science double major; Frederick “Cooper” Josties, theatre major and languages and intercultural studies minor; and Johnathan LaVecchia, languages and intercultural studies and political science double major.
The scholarship does not require applicants to have any experience with the language, but all the CCU scholarship winners have taken one or more Chinese courses with Xinyi Tan, Ph.D., associate professor of Chinese and French in the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies.
Dove, who plans to graduate in August 2023 and pursue a career with the U.S. Department of State as a foreign service officer, said he originally selected Chinese to fulfill a CCU foreign language requirement.
“Chinese seemed to be the most challenging language offered, so I chose that one,” said Dove, “and the reason I stuck with it is because Dr. Tan was a very passionate teacher. She was really dead set on getting us to learn Chinese and enjoy it. If it weren’t for the passion she had for teaching us, I probably wouldn’t have kept going.” Mandarin is considered a “critical language” by the state department, Dove said, and fluency is an advantage in the job market.
For Josties, who is particularly interested in learning about Eastern religious philosophies and practices, traveling to Taiwan to study Mandarin is part of his effort to broaden his cultural and educational horizons.
“Studying abroad is one of the best ways to learn and open your mind to new ideas and then bring those new ideas back,” said Josties. “Especially for careers in the arts, it’s important to have as many ideas and concepts from as many places as you can.”
Tan first introduced students to the MOE Huayu Enrichment Scholarship opportunity in Spring 2020, and six students were accepted to the program that year before the COVID-19 pandemic prohibited travel. Three CCU students have completed the program in the past two years, but the Spring 2023 cohort is by far the largest group of CCU students to apply, gain acceptance, and plan to travel with the MOE Huayu Enrichment Scholarship program.
Tan, who encourages all students in her Chinese classes to consider applying for the scholarship, said the application process is a commitment in itself, as students are required to identify a university in Taiwan at which they plan to study and gain acceptance to that university before they can complete the MOE Enrichment Scholarship Application.
“CCU students’ interest in applying just keeps growing,” Tan said. She held a scholarship interest session in February and invited two students who had completed the experience to speak to potential applicants. “I was really pleasantly surprised by the turnout,” said Tan. “There’s definitely a significant increase in the number of recipients and applicants than in past years. So far, our record of acceptance has been 100%.”
With Tan’s enthusiastic teaching and encouragement, CCU students of language will likely continue to take advantage of this enriching global experience.