PULLMAN, Wash. – Four WSU students have won nationally competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad in summer 2017. A fifth student was named an alternate.
These WSU awardees are in addition to one awardee named earlier this spring.
Overall, Gilman selected 1,200 American undergraduates from 354 colleges to receive the scholarship this summer.
WSU’s newest Gilman scholars are:
- Kimberly Marquez, a business management major from Wapato
- Anaderi Iniguez, a biology major from Pasco
- Rose Kibala, a communications major from Reno, Nev.
- Renata O’Connell, a business administration major from Bellingham
- Yvette Meza, a senior social sciences major from Royal City (alternate)
All plan to go to Spain, but on three separate trips.
Meza will study philosophy in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to learn more about that culture.
Seville with WSU’s First-Generation Abroad
Marquez and Iniguez, along with previously announced awardee Loundyne “L.D.” Hare, will spend a month, with 20 other WSU students, living and studying in Seville, Spain, through WSU’s First-Generation Abroad Program. This advisor-led experience will include university classes, immersion in cultural and language experiences, and regional learning trips, including one across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco.
Marquez was raised on the Yakama Reservation in Wapato, Wash.
Iniguez said she anticipates that the experience will positively impact her future as an epidemiologist, studying diseases and communicating with people help stop the spread of diseases.
Marquez and Iniguez are members of WSU’s First Scholars Program, which is a program partner of First-Generation Abroad. Hare is an Achiever Scholar, overseen by WSU’s Academic Success and Career Center.
Valencia with the Carson College of Business
O’Connell is studying abroad in Valencia, Spain, on a WSU Carson College of Business faculty-led program. At the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, she will take two courses on global trend forecasting and international special topics taught by WSU faculty.
“The Gilman Scholarship will allow me to pursue a career in Spain and open my eyes to the different business practices and cultures in that part of the world,” she said, noting she is fluent in Spanish and also has ties to the country.
Barcelona on an internship
Kibala is headed to Barcelona, Spain, to be a communications intern at Nau Ivanow, a nonprofit performing arts organization. Her internship seminar course and Spanish for business professions course are through IES Abroad-Barcelona.
Sixty WSU Gilman Scholars
WSU’s four new Gilman Scholars bring to 60 the number of students who have received the award since 2006. Gilman awards are funded through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Dept. of State.
Media Contacts:
- April Seehafer, WSU Distinguished Scholarships Program director, 509-335-8239, seehafer@wsu.edu
- Sharon Ericsson, WSU Academic Success and Career Center assistant director, 509-335-6000, ericssons@wsu.edu
- Christine Oakley, WSU International Programs director of Global Learning, 509-335-8180, coakley@wsu.edu
- Eva Navarijo, WSU First Scholars Program director, 509-335-3167, eva_navarijo@wsu.edu