Lingua Franca

Three Students Win Summer Study Abroad Scholarships

By Elizabeth Blood

This year, the Department of Foreign Languages launched a new summer study abroad scholarship program to encourage students to participate in our summer programs in Spain, Italy, and Quebec. We would like to congratulate three undergraduate students who were each awarded $250 scholarships towards their study abroad this summer based on their excellent essay entries: Taylor Crampton (Spain), Megan Forrest (Spain), and Kimberleen Toussaint (Quebec). Each of these students has different motivations for learning a second language.

Taylor Crampton, a Nursing major and Honors student who has been studying Spanish since elementary school, is looking forward to the challenge of living and studying in Oviedo, Spain this summer. “As a future nurse,” Taylor writes, “my advanced understanding of the Spanish language will only help me. I will be able to better communicate with patients of Hispanic origin in order to provide better, more personal patient care.”

A Music major, Megan Forrest has always been drawn to studying Spanish. After hearing a student speak about his summer study experience in Costa Rica at a residence hall event last year, Megan decided that this might be something she would be interested in. “I think that this trip would be a great opportunity to learn about a different culture and way of life,” Megan writes, “I think that it is important to branch out in the world, and to not always stay in the same corner.”

Kimberleen Toussaint, an Economics major of Haitian ancestry, is hoping to develop fluency in French, a language spoken by her parents and grandparents. Her interest is personal, but also professional. “I would like to go to Quebec to be immersed in the culture and the French language so that I can truly learn. I want to come home speaking French so that I can speak to my grandmother and ban English from our household,” says Kimberleen, “I also aspire to minor in French and have the ability to converse in French during an interview. Being able to speak another language would be beneficial in the job market.”