Students to study abroad through US Department of State

From the smiles on their faces, it’s obvious that junior Jenna Hayes and first-year Kaleigh (Rose) McLaughlin are going through an exciting change in their lives.

This summer, both Hayes and McLaughlin will be studying abroad in Russia and Azerbaijan thanks to scholarships from the U.S. Department of State.

“I am so stoked to eat the food,” Hayes, who’ll be traveling Russia, said. “It’s going to be amazing. I’m excited for the cultural parts, too.”

McLaughlin said she’s excited to experience Azerbaijan culture, which she’s had little exposure to thus far.

“I’m excited for the culture,” McLaughlin said. “I’m going to an interesting part of the world where there’s a big middle-eastern influence and Russian-European influence. I’m really interested to see how that will play out.”

Funded through the Critical Language Scholarship Program in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, scholarship recipients are expected to continue their language studies beyond the scholarship period and eventually apply their critical language skills in their professional careers.

The program is extremely competitive.

“They (the Critical Language Scholarship Program) choose 14 of what they deem to be the most critical languages,” Hayes said. “It’s a highly competitive scholarship. I think last year they had 5,500 applicants, but they only select a few.”

McLaughlin said they don’t have exact statistics on how many scholarships are given out, but was told the number was very small.

“The reason it’s so competitive is because everything we do is paid for,” McLaughlin said. “They pay for flights, even tiny flights. It’s a full 60 days and you can get college credit if you want.”

Both McLaughlin and Hayes said the application process was difficult.

Hayes said making herself stand out from the other applicants was her biggest obstacle.

“I found that the shorter essays were more challenging,” Hayes said. “Being an English major, I love writing. It was really hard to make it concise. I didn’t really know how to make myself stand out from the rest of the applicants. I’m really interested in comparing Russian literature and English literature, so I used that in my application.”

Both said that wouldn’t have been able to get through the process without help and support from their professors and family.

“I was very shocked to find out that I got it,” Hayes said. “I called my Russian professor not knowing it was a Russian holiday when I called her. I later learned from her husband that she was screaming in excitement when I told her I got it.”

Hayes will be finishing her Russian minor while in Russia, and McLaughlin will be starting the second part of her language requirement.

McLaughlin’s language, however, is a bit unique.
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“I’m doing Azari, which is sort of similar to Turkish,” McLaughlin said. “There is a Russian influence where I am going but I will be learning a different language. I’m in an odd situation because Azari is not taught anywhere in the US. But it’s similar to Turkish so I’m looking at studying abroad somewhere where they teach Turkish.”

McLaughlin said this program has already done a lot for her.

“This has already been opening up doors for me,” McLaughlin said. “I’m not just a student, I’m a student with this program attached to my name and I think that will really be helpful in the future.”

Hayes said this opportunity will help her expand her language skills and better understand culture.

“I believe that you can learn so much about cultures through languages, which is really amazing,” Hayes said. “I’m just so excited to be able to broaden my language studies.”