Colorado State University Students Awarded Full Scholarship for CIEE South Korea Scholarship Program March 13-22

Note to Reporters: Photos of the students are available with the news release at http://www.news.colostate.edu/.

Colorado State University students Travis Hall and Sarah Paliga are among 75 college students nationally awarded a full scholarship for the Council on International Educational Exchange South Korea Scholarship Program March 13-22.

The South Korea Scholarship Program is administrated in partnership with The Korea Foundation. The program is focused on exposing Korean culture to a diverse array of students from the nation, and is intended to be a cultural exchange for students who have had little to no exposure to Korean culture and foster understanding and diplomacy between the United States and Korea.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to travel to Korea and experience the culture firsthand, while strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Korea,” Hall said. “I look forward to meeting our hosts and exploring the country with our new friends.”

Hall, a senior political science major and Chinese minor, discovered the program just a few short weeks after his return from a semester abroad with CIEE in Shanghai. “Coming off a phenomenal semester of living with a host family and making lifelong friends, I leapt to the opportunity to go abroad again, especially to Korea, a country I do not know much about,” he said.

Paliga, a senior English major and Japanese minor, has had several overseas traveling experiences, including a Study Abroad semester in Japan last year. Paliga is a teacher in training, and hopes this experience will help further her own cultural awareness.

“CSU doesn’t have a Korean program, so I hope to learn the language and culture, because I have never really been exposed to it before,” said Paliga. “The extent of my knowledge is limited. I hope to bring back a little bit of the culture to America and to Fort Collins in particular.

“I want to be a role model for my students, there are so many things that can be learned from this and I feel excited about the opportunity that CIEE has given me.”

Participants will be hosted by South Korea’s Yonsei University in Seoul. Program highlights include academic lectures, excursions designed to promote exploration of culture and history and a brief stay with a Korean family.

The Korea Foundation is a non-profit organization and was established in 1991. The foundation was designed to promote awareness and understanding of Korea throughout the international community, and to enhance goodwill and friendship through the implementation of various international exchange programs.
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