Aug. 25, 2022 — Four (CSUCI) students are traveling to different corners of the world to study during the 2022-23 academic year, thanks to the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program.
This Fall, Art major Alejandra Torres, 20, is studying photography and traditional dance in Monterrey, Mexico while Performing Arts/Theater History double major Rae McQueen, 25, is off to the United Kingdom to study film.
In Spring of 2023, Biology major Joanna Carmelita Patagan, 19, will travel to South Korea to study biology and the Korean language and Business major/Spanish minor Itzel Tena Ortiz, 19, is off to immerse herself in the culture of Granada, Spain while studying business.
The Gilman Scholarship is targeted at students who might not otherwise get the opportunity to study in another country. Along with showing financial need, the application requirements include an essay describing why the student would like to study abroad.
“A fair number of our students get the Gilman because they have such powerful stories to tell and these incredible life experiences,” said CSUCI Study Abroad Coordinator Courtney Gross. “They have compelling reasons to want to study abroad and it comes across in their essays.”
Born in Salinas, California and raised in Porterville, Ortiz is the first in her family to attend college. Her parents both worked in the farm fields after immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico when they were 17.
“My parents took me with them in the summers to work in the fields,” Ortiz said. “I saw what that meant and what money meant. I saw how they struggled. They were literally wasting away their bodies to put a roof over our heads and provide food for us. I worked mostly picking oranges. You carried big ladders and there’s a lot of thorns. It gets to be 100 or 105 during summers.”
Now that she’s older, Ortiz describes her life as one of “privilege” she said, because her parents worked hard to establish a pathway to a better life for Ortiz and her three siblings.
While studying at the University of Granada, Ortiz plans to sharpen her Spanish skills and take advantage of the Business internships the university offers. After she graduates, so hopes to go into international affairs.
Torres began her classes at Tecnologico de Monterrey in August and has fallen in love with the city.
“The city is so colorful and there is always something to do,” she said. “The school has a lot of activities. I haven’t had a day of rest since I arrived. I’ve been going to El Centro with its outdoor shops and all the color and movement. Somebody is always doing art or playing music on the cobblestone streets.”
It’s been a visual feast for someone like Torres, who has long admired Latino filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, hoping to one day work in cinematography. She is spending this semester studying photography, public speaking and cumbia, a form of folk dance that originated in Colombia.
As a self-declared Anglophile, McQueen is thrilled to be headed to the University of Bristol in