WKU News

Andrea Day, a junior international affairs and Arabic major of Bowling Green, has been awarded a Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) scholarship to study in Jordan in summer 2019. 

FEA Scholarships are highly-selective nationally-competitive awards. Andrea is among 135 students chosen from a pool of over 2300 applicants from over 500 colleges and universities across the country. Working to change the face of study abroad to better reflect the rich diversity of the US population, FEA funds scholarships of up to $10,000 for study abroad, enabling students to study across the globe for a minimum of four weeks to a full academic year. Including this year’s recipients, since FEA’s inception in 2010, a total of 425 scholars have benefited from over $1.7 million in scholarships, including minority, LGBTQ+, first-generation and community college students. This year, 91% of recipients are of minority backgrounds, and 90% are first-generation college students. Additionally, 55% of all the FEA scholars have attended community college now or in the past.

Andrea will study at CET Jordan, an intensive language program designed to advance students’ language proficiency significantly in a short period of time. In eight weeks, students cover one year’s worth of college-level Arabic instruction through daily coursework, one-on-one tutoring, and committing to speaking only Arabic throughout the duration of the program.

Before attending WKU, she enrolled as a nontraditional student in Southcentral Kentucky Technical and Community College and earned an Associate in Arts degree in 2016. Volunteering at the International Center in Bowling Green shaped her long-term goals of working with refugees in and from the Middle East, particularly Palestinians and Syrians. In the nearer future, she intends to teach English in the Middle East and apply for the US Department of State Consular Fellows Program to use her Arabic language skills while serving the US abroad.

Contact: Melinda Grimsley, (270) 745-5043

About the Office of Scholar Development: The Office of Scholar Development is committed to helping students in all majors and degree programs develop the vision, experience and skills to be independent, engaged scholars. OSD welcomes the opportunity to work with students interested in nationally competitive scholarships.

About the Fund for Education Abroad: FEA is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to provide scholarships and ongoing support to students who are underrepresented among the US study abroad population. FEA makes life-changing, international education experiences accessible to all by supporting minority, community college and first-generation college students before, during, and after they participate in education abroad programs.