Ryan Blanchard of Sugar Hill receives Gilman Scholarship

2014 Jun 4

Ryan Blanchard of Sugar Hill, Georgia, was one of only 2,300 college students in the nation to receive the Gilman Scholarship for study abroad during summer-fall 2014. Blanchard and two other students from the University of North Georgia were selected for the scholarship.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supports study abroad program costs. The program aims to diversify the students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go.

"The Gilman Scholarship supports internships in underrepresented areas such as the Middle East and Asia, which are some of the key areas of UNG's foreign language offerings," said Katie Lapish, study abroad advisor in UNG's Center for Global Engagement (CGE). "We are very proud and excited for these three exceptional students. We want other students to know that anyone can come to the CGE and request help in finding scholarships, which can very much help support their study abroad experiences."

Ryan Blanchard is interested in the Korean language and culture, and is currently serving as a counselor in UNG's Federal Service Language Academy program. He will attend Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea in fall 2014. Zachary Hanvey currently is attending Liaocheng University in China, where he is studying Chinese language and culture. Nathan Patterson, who is in UNG's Corps of Cadets, is taking two intermediate-advanced Arabic classes at the Arabic Language Institute in Morocco.

Award recipients are chosen by a competitive selection process and must use the award to defray eligible study or intern abroad costs. These costs include program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance and international airfare. The Congressionally-funded program is administered by the Institute of International Education.