(Carina Lara)
By Staff Reports
(Honolulu) — Three Hawai‘i Pacific University students were recently awarded the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, to support their study abroad experiences. Carina Lara, Tracie Tapeni, and Joshua White were selected for the scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Lara, a Communications major, will join a field-based program through SIT Study Abroad’s program in Morocco, focused on migration and transnational identity. Tapeni, an Asian Studies major, will attend Soonchunhyang University, South Korea. White, an international business major, will study in Spain, with AIFS College Study Abroad at the University of Granada.
Each of the three students will receive an $8,000 scholarship. They are among 860 American undergraduates who were recently selected from 332 colleges and universities across the U.S.
Tracie Tapeni,
“Studying abroad helps students become more aware of the world and more open-minded,” said Tapeni, a Waianae High School graduate. She previously studied at Konkuk University, South Korea, as part of HPU’s study abroad program, adding HPU “strives to give all students from various majors the opportunity to study abroad.”
Lara said she’s looking forward to an “amazing opportunity” to live and learn in Morocco and credits the HPU’s study abroad program with connecting her with the scholarship. “They have helped me immensely.”
“The Gilman Scholarship Program reviewed nearly 2,900 applications. All three of our applicants received the scholarship for fall 2015,” said Melissa Matsubara, director of Study Abroad and International Exchange Programs at HPU.
Matsubara also noted HPU students’ recent success applying for the Department of State program.
“For the past two semesters, five out of five HPU students who applied for the Gilman scholarship and worked with the study abroad office on their application have been awarded the scholarship,” Matsubara said. “We are happy to work with all students on their study abroad scholarship applications.”
For information about HPU’s study abroad programs, visit www.hpu.edu/studyabroad or email studyabroad@hpu.edu.
Founded in 1965, Hawaiʻi Pacific University is Hawaii’s leading private university, with a student body of approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students. In addition to its Downtown campus, its facilities include the Hawaii Loa campus in Kaneohe and the Oceanic Institute at Makapuʻu.
The Gilman program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go. It is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), and is named for Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman, who retired in 2002 after serving in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chairing the House Foreign Relations Committee. For more information, see the website www.iie.org/gilman.