Student Spotlight
Congratulations, Harry and Aria!
Harry has been awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan this year! Aria has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan this year! Ira has been awarded a HUAYU Enrichment Scholarship to Study Chinese in Taiwan this year! Congratulations, Harry, Aria, and Ira!
Learn more about the Critical Language Scholarship here.
STARTALK Year-long Program Achievements
STARTALK Program Student Achievements
- 2022-2023 STARTALK Pilot Chinese Program student, Ira Valeza, received a HUAYU Enrichment Scholarship to study at National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center for two months in 2023. Ira is majoring in Government & Politics, Chinese, and completing a certificate program in East Asian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2022, she was also awarded the Adele Austin Rickett Scholarship, and in 2023, the Tsung Chin Chinese Calligraphy Scholarship for her dedication to learning Chinese.
- 2023-2024 STARTALK Chinese Program student, Harry Wilson, received a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to study in Taiwan in 2023.2022-2023 STARTALK Pilot Chinese Program student, Aria Kingstrom, received a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship from the U.S. Department of State and lived in Chengdu, China for two months during the summer of 2019. In 2022, she was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the Department of State to study at Tamkang University in Taipei for two months during the summer. Aria is currently studying at Michigan State University with a major in Psychology and minors in Chinese and in Computer Science.
2022-2023 STARTALK Pilot Chinese Program student, Michelle Ta, received a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to study in Taiwan in 2022.
2018 STARTALK Chinese learner, Lucas San Miguel, received a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship from the U.S. Department of State and lived in Chengdu, China, for two months in 2019. He also received an academic year NSLI-Y Scholarship to study at Tamkang University in Taipei from 2020-2021 and received the NSLI-Y Award for Volunteerism in 2021. In 2022, he was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship from the Department of State to study Chinese with Changchun Humanities and Sciences College. Lucas is currently a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar at Emory University with a double major in Economics and Chinese Studies.
- 2017 STARTALK Turkish student, Annika Ganzeveld, received a NSLI-Y scholarship from the U.S. Department of State in 2018. She was also accepted by Georgetown University in 2019 to study Culture and Politics with a minor in Turkish and Chinese.
Critical Language Immersion Program (CLIP) After-school Achievements
- CLIP Chinese instructor, Elizabeth Dudley, received a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State in 2018.
- CLIP Chinese instructor, Abisola James, received a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State in 2017.
- CLIP Turkish instructor, Beyza Akgun, received a NSLI-Y scholarship from the U.S. Department of State in 2016 and Politics with a minor in Turkish and Chinese.