News Release| Gilman International Scholarship Program; Cal State L.A.

August 4, 2010

Gilman Program offers boost for CSULA students’ global studies

Both Jones, Yu also receive CSU Wang Family Scholarships

Los Angeles, CA --  Cal State L.A. students Jazmine Jones, Amabel Robles and Tyren Thompson are each awarded a $5,000 Gilman Scholarship to further their studies in China, Spain, and South Korea, respectively, for one full academic year. Another CSULA student, Sam Yu, receives a $4,000 Gilman Scholarship to study in Taiwan.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program aims to better prepare students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world. The Program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies abroad.

Picture of 2010 Gilman Scholarship recipients.
2010 Gilman Scholarship recipients at Cal State L.A.: (l-r) Sam Yu, Jazmine Jones, Amabel Robles and Tyren Thompson.

Communications major Jazmine Jones (Los Angeles resident) will be studying at Peking University in Beijing, China, starting August 27. She will be taking Mandarin courses to fulfill her minor in Chinese. Jones, who hopes to pursue a career in international relations, said, “I am a Chinese minor, so I know that the best way to become entirely immersed in the language would be to live and study in a place that spoke it.” She is also a recipient of a $4,000 CSU Wang Family Scholarship.

As for Spanish major Amabel Robles (Bell Gardens resident), she will be traveling to Spain to study at Universidad Complutense de Madrid starting August 23. Robles indicated that she will be taking courses in Spanish American Literature; Women in Hispanic Literature; Poetry, Narrative and Theatre; Cervantes and Don Quixote; Theater of the Golden Age; and Contemporary Spanish Cinema. She said, “It is imperative for me to learn more about my culture and roots, and I believe studying in Spain will be a life-changing experience that will enhance my education in both academic and personal levels.”

On August 16, business major Tyren Thompson (Westchester resident) will begin studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. He plans to take courses in his major alongside Korean language and history classes. He is interested in learning American history from Korean scholars’ perspectives, as well as Korean history, specifically the conflict between North and South Korea. Thompson said, “By incorporating what I will learn abroad and what I have learned in the United States, I will have a competitive edge in the professional and academic realm.”

Traveling to Taipei, Taiwan, on September 14, finance major Sam Yu (Los Angeles resident) will be studying at National Taiwan University.  Yu said, “To successfully practice international business in Asia, I realized it would be essential that I master Chinese Mandarin and understand the subtleties of the culture. Not only will this program…immerse me in a world where I will develop my linguistic skills, I will have a chance to establish professional networks with accomplished peers and alumni, clearly an invaluable asset in my career.” He is also a recipient of a $4,000 CSU Wang Family Scholarship.

The congressionally-funded Gilman Scholarship Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education-Southern Regional Center in Houston, Texas.

The CSU Wang Family Scholarship Program seeks to provide students with an opportunity to learn in an international environment and another culture. The scholarship provides an opportunity for students to prepare for a role in a rapidly changing international and interdependent world.

Students interested in studying abroad should contact Cal State L.A.’s International Programs and Services at (323) 343-3170 and visit its webpage at www.calstatela.edu/ips/.

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 215,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu