Suzette Escamilla Morales, a political science and economics double-major at Hastings College who is spending the 2016-17 academic year studying in India, is one of approximately 1,200 American undergraduate students selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study or intern abroad during the summer 2017 term.
Escamilla Morales will work as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania.
For the current year, the Hastings-native and St. Cecilia High School was awarded a David L. Boren Scholarship to study in India. While in India, Escamilla Morales studied the Hindi language in Jaipur, India, in the fall, before taking political science, economics and Hindi language courses in Hyderabad, India. She will return to Hastings in mid-May before leaving for Albania.
Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs. The program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or internships abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic competitiveness. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages, and economies — making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.
The scholarships are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The late Congressman Gilman, served in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee. When honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, he commented, “Study abroad is a special experience for every student who participates. Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”
The program is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). More information is available at gilmanscholarship.org.
“International education is one of the best tools for developing mutual understanding and building connections between people from different countries,” according to Allan Goodman, president and CEO of IIE. “It is critical to the success of American diplomacy and business, and the lasting ties that Americans make during their international studies are important to our country in times of conflict as well as times of peace.”
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
