USC will be sending Gamecocks across the world this summer and academic year through the Boren Scholarship, the Princeton in Asia Fellowship, and the US-UK Fulbright Commission Summer Institute.
Rising sophomore Nicolas Ferguson has been awarded a Boren Scholarship for his upcoming year in Hong Kong to study Chinese and senior Stefanie Feltwell has been offered a Boren Scholarship for a year of study in South Korea. Rising junior Mariah Stewart was also named a Boren Scholarship Alternate for studying Russian in Latvia. This brings the total of USC Boren Scholarship and Fellowship winners to 47.
Recent graduate SummerBrook Lawson has been named a Princeton in Asia Fellow, and will spend next year in Shanghai, China working in Student Life at YK Pao Boarding School. And rising sophomore Jane Marryat will spend her summer in Scotland as the first USC student to attend a UK Fulbright Summer Institute since the program began in 2010.
David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), a major federal initiative designed to build a broader and more qualified pool of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills. Boren Awards provide U.S. undergraduate and graduate students with resources and encouragement to acquire language skills and experience in countries critical to the future security and stability of our nation. In exchange for funding, Boren award recipients agree to work in the federal government for a period of at least one year. "The National Security Education Program," according to Dr. Michael A. Nugent, NSEP Director, "is helping change the U.S. higher education system and the way Americans approach the study of foreign languages and cultures."
Founded in 1898, Princeton in Asia (PiA) has been building bridges between the U.S. and Asia for over a century. PiA sponsors over 150 fellowships and internships in 21 countries and is the oldest and largest organization of its kind, unique in its scope, size, century-long expertise and emphasis on service. The essence of PiA is to provide transformative, service-oriented experiences for bright, talented graduates and to serve the needs of Asia as determined by our host institutions and Asian partners. PiA arranges fellowships and internships with Asian host organizations that contribute to important global issues at the local level: education, public health, environmental sustainability, access to information/media, economic development and social justice. Fellowships are the means of fostering person-to-person diplomacy, enhancing mutual understanding, contributing to communities with unmet needs and providing transformative experiences for fellows and host communities.
The US-UK Fulbright Commission offers US undergraduates the opportunity to take part in one of ten Summer Institutes in leading UK universities throughout England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Since 2010, the US-UK Fulbright Commission has partnered with top UK universities and other organizations to give US undergraduates the opportunity to study and experience culture in various regions of the UK. Participants in these programs get the opportunity to experience an exciting academic program at a highly regarded UK University, explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK and develop their academic ability by improving presentation, research and communication skills. The US-UK Fulbright Commission gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Michael W Louis Charitable Trust and the individual universities in making these summer institutes possible.
Ferguson is a rising sophomore in the Darla Moore School of Business, where he is pursuing majors in International Business and Global Supply Chain Management, with a minor in Military Science. He is a member of both the Army ROTC (where he is the recipient of the Army National ROTC Scholarship) and the International Business and Chinese Enterprise cohort (IBCE). He will be at the Yale-China Chinese Language Centre in their intensive Mandarin program this summer, and then studying full-time in Hong Kong for the entire academic year. Ferguson intends to be an Army Military Intelligence Officer.
Feltwell will graduate next spring from the South Carolina Honors College with majors in International Business and Economics, and minors in French and German. She is a Palmetto Fellow and recipient of the USC Dean's Scholarship. In 2015 and 2016, she won the South Carolina International Trade Conference Award, the Charleston Women in International Trade Award, and the C. Russell Hill Darla Moore School of Business Award. Also in 2016, she was named one of 10 international recipients of the Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship. Her study abroad experiences include a semester in Casablanca, Morocco, a Maymester in Japan, and the USC Tours Program in Tours, France. Her internship experiences include summers with Community Empowerment Solutions in the Dominican Republic and with the South Carolina Department of Commerce Europe Office in Munich, Germany, and she has just completed a semester internship at the United Nations Information Center in Washington, DC. Feltwell has declined her Boren Scholarship in order to spend the upcoming academic year as one of two USC IB Oxford Scholars, studying at Oxford University in the UK. She ultimately plans to become a Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State, or work for the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
DuRant, a senior, is seeking dual degrees in biological science and music performance (organ). Named a national NOAA Hollings Scholar his sophomore year, he studied air quality as it relates to transportation sector emissions this past summer at the Earth System Research Lab (ESRL) in Boulder, CO. On campus, he was awarded the University's Magellan Scholarship and the Honors College SURF Grant for an ongoing research project to examine the impact of nuclear power plants in SC. He plans to continue his career as a science researcher. DuRant is a Palmetto Fellow and Lieber Scholar, both awarded by the University.
Stewart is a rising junior in the College of Arts and Sciences with majors in Russian and International Studies. A Capstone Scholar, she is the recipient of the Ceny Walker Undergraduate Scholarship for Study Abroad. She serves as the Fiction Editor for the USC literary magazine, The Lettered Olive, and plays the oboe in the USC University Band. She has work forthcoming in the Troika Journal, an undergraduate journal in Eastern European, Eurasian, and Slavic Studies. She serves as an online mentor for USC international students, and volunteers both to help teach English to Syrian Refugees living in Columbia, and as an English tutor for International Friendship Ministries. Stewart hopes to become a Political Foreign Service Officer. She will spend her fall semester in Latvia studying Russian.
Lawson is a May 2017 Cum Laude graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, with majors in Political Science and Chinese, and Leadership Distinction in Global Learning. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, and was named a USC Outstanding Senior. She has studied abroad in Taipei, Taiwan, was a delegate for the Confucius Institute to pursue language and culture study at the Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, China. She received a Gilman Scholarship for a summer internship in Shanghai, China, where she worked in the legal sector of an FDI company. In the spring of 2016, Lawson traveled with other USC students to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to volunteer at the Elephant Nature Park. At USC, she has served on executive boards for Carolina Service Council, Phi Sigma Theta, Order of Omega, and Sigma Alpha Lambda. She is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, where she served as a board member on the Greek Conduct Board and Judicial Committee. She has been involved with student government, and served as a conversation partner for English Programs for Internationals (EPI). Lawson plans to attend law school for a joint JD/MA degree in law and East Asian Studies, with a concentration in international law.
Marryat is a rising sophomore in the South Carolina Honors College, majoring in Biology with a minor in Political Science. A McNair Scholar, she is also a Lieber Scholar and a National Merit Finalist. She is a member of Phi Sigma Pi Honors Fraternity, as well as of College Democrats. Marryat plans to attend medical school. She will spend three weeks in Scotland this summer at both the University of Strathclyde and the Glasgow School of Art as one of 10 American undergraduate students on the Scotland: Technology, Innovation and Creativity institute. The program is meant to offer a unique perspective on Scotland's tradition of innovation and creativity and how this is shaping Scotland's future and its place in the world.
Boren candidates were supported during the application process by two offices at the University of South Carolina: the Study Abroad Office (http://studyabroad.sc.edu) which assists Carolina students in pursuing education overseas, and the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs (www.sc.edu/ofsp), established in 1994 to assist students applying for national fellowship competitions. To visit and to access the Boren website, visit http://www.borenawards.org/
Students interested in Princeton in Asia, the US-UK Fulbright Summer Institutes and other national fellowships are assisted by the Office of Fellowships & Scholar Programs. For more information, contact the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs »