WKU News

Close to 300 WKU students have been able to study abroad after receiving money from the nationally competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program. 

In this week’s View from the Hill, WKU’s Amy Bingham introduces us to a recent Gilman Scholar whose passion for teaching will take her all the way to Spain later this semester.

“I really, really love working with students.”

Teaching is something Gracie Goode has always wanted to do.

“I saw my mom do it every day and  I lived at school and I just knew that was something I could do and do well.”

“I’m actually a legacy, my mom and my step mom have both gotten education degrees from Western.”

Now Goode is close to receiving her degree. She is spending her last semester student teaching at Drakes Creek Middle School.

“My mentor teacher is amazing. He lets me take over class a lot and I get to practice my teaching.”

Then she has one more assignment before picking up her diploma, a month-long stint in Barcelona.

“I feel really confident going abroad and being able to teach because we’re gonna be teaching English assistance, so I won’t have my own class or anything but I’ll be assisting English instruction.”

Gracie says it’s an experience that wouldn’t have been possible if she hadn’t received a Gilman scholarship.

“I never really thought that I would study abroad, but I just saw the opportunity, saw it advertised for WKU and I was like that is an opportunity that I cannot pass up.”

Gracie is thrilled to use her international student teaching experience in her teaching career, making sure to tell students there’s a whole world out there beyond what they currently know.

“I just really love interacting with students and hearing their experiences and just knowing that I’m a positive force in their life just as much as they are a positive force in mind.”

WKU’s Office of Scholar Development recently announced that a total of 291 WKU students have earned more than $1 million in Gilman Scholarships. The Gilman Scholarship program was created in 2001.