I am a Program Coordinator in the Center for Learning Abroad at the University of Utah. I manage applications, queries, institutional partnerships and faculty relations for all of our learning abroad programs to Asia and the Pacific. I am also in charge of scholarships for our office. This means that I manage and review applications for our two in-house scholarships in addition to advising students on applications for external scholarships like CLS, FLAS, Gilman and Boren.
As an undergraduate student at the University of Utah, I was fully funded by the U’s Presidential Scholarship. As a junior, I spent a semester interning for Maitri, a non-profit organization in New Delhi, India. Although this was not my first international experience, it was my time as an intern in India that shaped my career goals and motivated me to pursue the study of Hindi-Urdu and to pursue my Master’s degree. After returning home from India, I began studying Hindi-Urdu at the University of Utah, and was determined to get back to India as soon as possible to further my language studies. I applied to CLS and for a FLAS scholarship. I was not awarded either one. However, over the process of completing these applications—and even after I had been declined the awards—I was given great advice about what makes an outstanding scholarship application. I strive to share this advice along with my own insights with my students. I operate under the guiding philosophy that lack of financial means should not ever prevent a student from learning abroad. International educational experiences foster the multilingual, independent, responsible and culturally aware people that will make our world a more supportive and successful place.
Since my area of expertise is writing, this blog and the advice given here focuses on the essay portion of scholarship applications. While this is a crucial (I think the MOST crucial) aspect of any scholarship application, there are often other components that will impact whether or not you may receive a scholarship. These factors may include: GPA, community service experience, field-related experience (i.e. internships, jobs), language experience, financial background, ethnic or racial background, area of interest or field of study. I will not necessarily be addressing these factors in any of my posts, but I will be happy to answer questions as they arise.
Scholarship Sojourn 