Today, I received the Gilman Scholarship, for $5000. Every bit counts, and compared to other scholarships, this is a fairly large amount to receive. I don't know if I can express just how grateful I am to have received this award. Japan is expensive, after all, and so is the program--but it's all worth it, and receiving a scholarship like this is incredibly helpful. It makes studying abroad easier and a bit less stressful.
Applying for the Gilman Scholarship is simple enough--it's mostly online, for one thing, and you only have to mail in a few items, such as transcripts. Post-acceptance documents are just as simple to fill out, also being mostly online. You do have to send in current transcripts again, but I believe that's all. The only other thing I need to figure out is how to deal with uploading my international insurance information, which I don't have yet. Most likely, though, JCMU or someone will be able to help me with this. I think those are the only things that might take a bit more time to complete.
Also, if anyone receives the Gilman Scholarship, don't forget to complete the follow-on project! With this blog, I'm actually already halfway there, which is good, because I know at least for me, it's too easy to forget after even a few weeks--let alone the academic year--that I'm supposed to do a follow-up project. As a matter of fact, I just realized I have a scholarship from JCMU that requires me to do a follow-up essay, I believe it was. In any case, the Gilman Scholarship requires a follow-up project to be completed with 6 months after your program ends, and to send in an essay talking about the project. It's all simple enough to do, I think.
I would hope that anyone who is willing to take the time to read this blog will look into studying abroad--whether it's to study a language like I am, or just for the sake of having the wonderful experience of studying abroad, will find it helpful and look for a way to invest in studying abroad. I also hope you will take the time to apply for this scholarship--it's easy enough to complete, they select a large number of recipients, and the amount awarded is well worth it (especially when you consider how most other scholarships are only worth about $1000). No matter your major in college, I think it's a great idea to study abroad, even if it's only for a short time. As everyone keeps saying, it looks good on your resume. Not only that, I believe it'll also give you experience that can be used in any job/career. And then, side from obviously wanting to improve my Japanese, I'm also hoping to grow and improve myself. By this I mean that I'd like to become more like the person I'd like to be, and studying abroad feels like one of the last steps in doing so--though, no matter what I do or how hard I work, it never feels like it's enough, so I keep trying harder. I should also mention that at least with JCMU, you can complete an entire year's worth of Japanese within one semester, and they offer so many great experiences and activities even aside from In any case, my point is that studying abroad is a great experience for anyone, and will be beneficial personally, academically and when looking for a job.
Applying for the Gilman Scholarship is simple enough--it's mostly online, for one thing, and you only have to mail in a few items, such as transcripts. Post-acceptance documents are just as simple to fill out, also being mostly online. You do have to send in current transcripts again, but I believe that's all. The only other thing I need to figure out is how to deal with uploading my international insurance information, which I don't have yet. Most likely, though, JCMU or someone will be able to help me with this. I think those are the only things that might take a bit more time to complete.
Also, if anyone receives the Gilman Scholarship, don't forget to complete the follow-on project! With this blog, I'm actually already halfway there, which is good, because I know at least for me, it's too easy to forget after even a few weeks--let alone the academic year--that I'm supposed to do a follow-up project. As a matter of fact, I just realized I have a scholarship from JCMU that requires me to do a follow-up essay, I believe it was. In any case, the Gilman Scholarship requires a follow-up project to be completed with 6 months after your program ends, and to send in an essay talking about the project. It's all simple enough to do, I think.
I would hope that anyone who is willing to take the time to read this blog will look into studying abroad--whether it's to study a language like I am, or just for the sake of having the wonderful experience of studying abroad, will find it helpful and look for a way to invest in studying abroad. I also hope you will take the time to apply for this scholarship--it's easy enough to complete, they select a large number of recipients, and the amount awarded is well worth it (especially when you consider how most other scholarships are only worth about $1000). No matter your major in college, I think it's a great idea to study abroad, even if it's only for a short time. As everyone keeps saying, it looks good on your resume. Not only that, I believe it'll also give you experience that can be used in any job/career. And then, side from obviously wanting to improve my Japanese, I'm also hoping to grow and improve myself. By this I mean that I'd like to become more like the person I'd like to be, and studying abroad feels like one of the last steps in doing so--though, no matter what I do or how hard I work, it never feels like it's enough, so I keep trying harder. I should also mention that at least with JCMU, you can complete an entire year's worth of Japanese within one semester, and they offer so many great experiences and activities even aside from In any case, my point is that studying abroad is a great experience for anyone, and will be beneficial personally, academically and when looking for a job.