Becoming immersed in a foreign culture and learning to speak the language fluently through an intensive program is one purpose of the Critical Language Scholarship Program.
Recently, seven University of North Georgia students were selected as semi-finalists for the program.
They are:
Hannah Chisholm, who is pursuing a degree in communications with a concentration in multimedia journalism and a minor in Korean
Daniel Barker, who is pursuing a degree in mathematics and a minor in Russian
Donnie "Jamar" Shumaker, who is pursuing a degree in East Asian studies with a concentration in Chinese and a minor in Chinese language and culture
Daniel Shearer, a member of the Corps of Cadets who is pursuing a degree in East Asian studies with a concentration in Japanese studies and a minor in leadership
Julia "Rhiannon" Smith, who is pursuing degrees in psychology and modern languages with a concentration in Russian
Leah James, a member of the Corps of Cadets who is pursuing a degree in nursing and a minor in Arabic
Rachel Wilson, who is pursuing a degree in finance and a minor in Chinese
Victoria Hightower, assistant director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships Office and associate professor of history at UNG, explained the CLS is an incredibly competitive scholarship that only accepts 10 percent of applicants.
"UNG has never had such a varied or wide group of students become semifinalists before," she said. "Our students this year worked diligently as individuals and in group workshops to develop their applications."
Having seven semifinalists marks a new record for UNG as well as a 250 percent increase in semifinalists since 2014 when UNG President Bonita Jacobs created the Nationally Competitive Scholarships Office. Last academic year, five were semifinalists. Of those, three were finalists and two were alternates. UNG had one finalist and one semifinalist for both 2016-17 and 2015-16.
"UNG students are increasingly competitive in the CLS scholarship," Lin said. "We credit this to the hard work of our students, their mentors, and the excellent preparation provided by our language faculty. Previous applicants for the CLS have gone on to win other awards including the Boren, Gilman, Fulbright, and Rangel Fellowships; we are eager to see what's next for both our applicants and our semifinalists!"
Finalists will be chosen later this month.
