The Center for Asian Business at Loyola Marymount University is pleased to award four summer scholarships, named the John P. Daly, S.J. Scholarships for Cultural Immersion Experience in Korea, to Ana Paola De Anda, Simon Bleeker, Matthew Fumo and Kerigan Kenny. These students were selected from a pool of applicants to travel to South Korea from June 21 – July 5, 2014.
Ana Paola De Anda
Ana Paola De Anda is entering her senior year as a double major in entrepreneurship and international business. She currently serves as a PR/marketing intern at Delisun Food where she promotes brand awareness and manages the company’s social media outreach. Her previous work experience includes research assistant for LMU’s College of Business Administration and administrative assistant for De Anda Trucking. She’s held internships with Rent the Runway and the Miss Malibu Pageant. Ana is very active at LMU and serves as fundraising director for the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity and sponsor chairman of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She is fluent in Spanish and spent a semester abroad in Madrid, Spain. As someone who’s traveled extensively throughout the world, Ana has experienced the benefits and uncertainties of visiting a foreign country. It is this desire to learn more that propelled her to apply for the Daly Scholarship. She hasn’t explored Asia yet and is very excited for the opportunity to visit Korea. She hopes this enriching and authentic experience will broaden her perspectives on the Korean culture and enhance her future career opportunities.
Simon Bleeker
Simon Bleeker is entering his senior year as a double major in marketing and Asian Pacific Studies (with a Chinese minor). In the summer of 2013, he studied abroad at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing, China. Simon is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) and has been on the Dean’s List since 2011. After graduating from LMU, he plans to work for a multinational corporation that is heavily involved in East Asia. Simon stays active at LMU as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the Accounting Society and the Chinese Club. In fact, his passion for East Asian culture, history and philosophy began through his participation in the Chinese Club. He felt an immediate connection with the other students and began taking East Asian-related courses. Later this summer, Simon will participate in Sophia University’s Summer Session in East Asian Studies in Tokyo, Japan. He is extremely excited about visiting South Korea, saying “this experience will give me a better understanding of the Korean culture, thereby giving me an advantage when conducting business.”
Matthew Fumo
Matthew Fumo is entering his senior year as a mechanical engineering major. Matthew has been involved in a number of projects while a student at LMU, including helping professors with research related to children afflicted with Dystonia and Cerebral Palsy, serving as a mathematics teaching assistant, developing a writing guide for local elementary school students, and volunteering as a member of the Ballona Wetlands Restoration Group. Fluent in Spanish, Matthew studied abroad in Germany in the fall of 2012. He says he’s already been exposed to a decent amount of Korean culture through his LMU roommate Kurtis Lee, a first generation Korean. He is thrilled for the opportunity to learn more about Korea, particularly the culture, the differences between Korea and the U.S., and to witness their great sense of national pride. As a mechanical engineering student, Matthew is also excited to visit one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.
Kerigan Kenny
Kerigan Kenny is also entering his senior year as a fine arts major with a minor in business administration. Kerigan has been involved in a number of activities at LMU, including the Surf Club, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, orientation leader, and graphic designer for the LMU Business Incubator. He’s currently interning at the Gagosian in Beverly Hills where he assists with a number of gallery-related tasks such as researching artists, sales, documenting works and managing the library. Kerigan’s desire to learn more about Korean culture started when he met LMU Design Professor Saeri Cho Dobson. Through her, Kerigan was introduced to traditional Korean meals and learned more about how important design is becoming in Korea. He hasn’t had an opportunity to study abroad during his time at LMU; therefore, Kerigan is very excited about traveling to Korea to “develop new ideas and experience a part of the world that is very different from my own, giving me new insights as a young artist and entrepreneur.”
ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIPS
The scholarships are named in honor of the late Fr. John P. Daly, S.J., former director of the Center for Asian Business at LMU. He worked in Korea as a young Jesuit from 1961 to 1981 to help develop Sogang University in Seoul, Korea where he served as president for 12 years. Fr. Daly’s lifelong goal has always been to promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of culture and history between Asians and Americans. Korea, especially, is still largely unknown by Americans. Sogang faculty, alumni and other friends have contributed to the endowment as a way to foster the study of Korean culture and history to promote understanding by mainstream Americans.
The scholarships, which began in 2006, have helped send 22 LMU students to Korea to date. The scholarships provide an opportunity for students to learn Korean history and to experience the culture and respond positively with respect and sincerity. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of their essays, their GPAs, and their interviews by the Selection Committee. Scholarship winners will spend two weeks in Korea, and upon return will submit a report on the cultural differences they experienced. The students will receive partial roundtrip airfare. Accommodations and meals will be provided by host families, and travel arrangements in-country will be paid. A coordinator from Sogang University will supervise the program in Korea.
SOGANG UNIVERSITY
Jesuits from the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus at the request of the Korean Bishops opened the first Catholic University in Korea in 1960. It currently enrolls 13,500 students and another 3,000 in graduate programs in six colleges –Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Economics and Business Administration.
THE CENTER FOR ASIAN BUSINESS
The Center for Asian Business in the College of Business Administration at Loyola Marymount University was established in 1995 to promote understanding between Asians and Americans at first through executive education programs for Asian executives, and recently, through faculty research grants, special lecture series, movie screenings, international business course offerings and student field trip scholarships.