Loyola Marymount University junior Jeremy Selland has been awarded the prestigious Boren Scholarship by the National Security Education Program.
In addition to Selland, six other LMU students have landed international scholarships for next year with the help of the university’s Study Abroad Office.
The Boren Scholarship, named for David L. Boren, former U.S. senator and currently president of the University of Oklahoma, focuses its awards on geographic areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to national security. “The Boren Scholars program is both a highly prestigious and competitive award for undergraduate students,” said Jack Hobson, director of the Study Abroad Office.
As part of the Boren program, this summer Selland will take an intensive course in Swahili at the University of Florida. He will then continue studies in Swahili at the State University of Zanzibar in Tanzania, where he will also work as an intern for a company that provides micro-financing in developing countries.
“Most of the importance of the scholarship is the cultural experience,” said Selland, who is a political science and economics double major. “I will have a lot to learn by living in Tanzania and interacting with the people.”
The Study Abroad Office helped the seven students identify the scholarships and guided them through the application process.
Four LMU students were awarded the summer 2014 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships for undergraduate students to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad. The awardees include: Jacob Mehari, a mechanical engineering major who is studying in LMU’s program in Bonn; Tyler Kidd, a finance major who will study at Chinese University in Hong Kong; Cecilia Ramirez, a biochemistry major who is studying in LMU’s Bonn program; and Hunter Braverman, a mechanical engineering major, who is also studying in the Bonn program.
Among the other international scholarship awardees: Sean Chong-Umeda, a dance and Asian and Pacific studies double major, who won a scholarship awarded by the Japanese government for study at Sophia University in Tokyo; Anna Johansen was awarded the Global Korea Scholarship by the Ministry of Education of Korea for her participation in the exchange program with Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea.
Selland is believed to be LMU’s first undergraduate Boren Scholar. After his 2015 graduation, he intends to attend Naval Officer Candidate School and use his language skills as an officer. “I feel that this is a great opportunity,” Selland said. “Learning a language, traveling, interning in the field that I want to pursue a career in, I don’t think there is anything more that I can ask for.”