SDSU Undergrad Studied Abroad Through Critical Language Scholarship
Naomi Moore is the 17th SDSU student to earn the national scholarship that promotes language and cultural fluency.
Naomi Moore, a fourth-year double major in International Security and Conflict Resolution (ISCOR) and Arabic Studies, was accepted into the Critical Language Scholarship program — an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion for U.S. graduate and undergraduate students.
Moore studied Arabic in Tangier, Morocco, continuing the robust tradition of Aztecs that have participated in the extremely selective program, said Ryan McLemore, a study abroad adviser in SDSU’s International Student Center. Moore was the 17th Aztec to participate in the CLS program since its inception in 2006.
“We’re very proud of Naomi and all of the students who applied for this competitive and prestigious scholarship,” McLemore said. “We had three students who were finalists and three alternates for summer 2019.”
Students accepted into the competitive program spend eight to 10 weeks abroad studying one of 15 languages deemed critical to national security and economic prosperity.
Moore urged other students to consider the CLS program.
“The culture and this program were definitely more challenging than expected, but my Arabic has significantly improved,” Moore said. “If anyone is looking to experience cultural immersion, develop and strengthen their language skills and meet others with similar interests, I would definitely recommend CLS to them.”
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the CLS program helps scholars rapidly achieve language and cultural fluency by immersing them in intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences.
Students receive a full scholarship that covers travel, tuition, housing and a living stipend, one year’s worth of undergraduate language-class credit, certification of their language gains and noncompetitive eligibility for U.S. government jobs for up to three years after program completion.
McLemore said that programs such as CLS “level the playing field” in study abroad by making it accessible to everyone.
“CLS is the perfect response to those who may think study abroad is too expensive or there are no funding opportunities available,” he said. “We are working hard to make students better-aware of the wide array of funding available to support international experiences.
“There are numerous scholarships to support students engaging in regions and countries critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity, so again we encourage students to consider going off-the-beaten path … to those equally welcoming and culturally rich destinations.”
McLemore said he is encouraged by the increased interest in the program by SDSU students.
“We have many applicants for Arabic language because that is a prominent language taught at SDSU,” he said. “Similarly, there are multiple applicants for Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Russian and Korean because those languages are also taught at SDSU.
McLemore noted the recent addition of Portuguese to the CLS program opens opportunities for exposure to Brazil and Mozambique.
Students interested in the Critical Language Scholarship program can visit clscholarship.org for more information and can also view information on scholarships in the Aztecs Abroad database or contact the SDSU Study Abroad office at [email protected].
