Two Genes
eo students have received Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program awards to study in India and Australia.
Carolina Fernandez ’17 leaves this month for a semester in Kolkata, India, on a St. Xaviers College Exchange through SUNY Oswego study abroad offerings.
A literature and English major, her academic coursework will include learning Bengali, a history, politics and society course and weekly service-learning. She says she is looking forward to the community service aspect of the program. She will also produce a series of poems about her experiences in India.
The Gilman awards include a Follow-On Service Project. Fernandez wants to return to campus to promote study abroad options to other Access Opportunity Program students, and return as a visiting alumni speaker.
Nicholas Cancalosi-Dean ’19, a geology major, will spend the fall at the University of Tasmania in Australia through a SUNY Oswego study abroad program.
Cancalosi-Dean has an interest in conservation of wildlife and wilderness, and will include studying land management of Tasmania in his coursework, which includes studying the unique habitats of Tasmania. His Follow-On Service Project will be to promote study abroad among science, technology, engineering and math students at Geneseo.
The Gilman awards grants undergraduate students of limited financial means up to $5,000 to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad to better prepare U.S. students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world.
“The college's success with the nationally competitive Gilman Scholarship program is a testament to the quality of student that Geneseo attracts and also the emphasis that the institution places on study abroad experiences and developing in our students an ethical sense of global citizenship,” says Michael Mills, director of national fellowships and scholarships. “Geneseo students are creative, talented and accomplished, making them excellent ambassadors who are interested in learning about other cultures and peoples. The Gilman program provides the funding to allow students with limited financial means to have these experiences to enrich both their lives and our campus when they return."