Seven SDSU Students Earn Gilman Scholarships
The prestigious U.S. State Department program helps students with financial need to study abroad.
Andrea Michelle Flores — “Michy” to her friends — grew up wanting to improve the lives of people in her parents’ home country of El Salvador.“My passion has always involved learning as much as I can in order to help others.”
The international business major with an emphasis in Spanish and Latin America thought studying abroad would help her accomplish that goal. This semester, she is taking that first step, thanks to a U.S. State Department scholarship program that enables students with financial need to intern and study abroad.
Flores is among seven San Diego State University students who received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which has been making study abroad a reality for students who receive federal Pell Grants since 2001.
The students will be studying abroad in Indonesia, Japan, Italy, South Korea, United Kingdom and Chile. Six will begin their programs this fall, with the seventh beginning next spring.
Flores, a native of Tehachapi, will study at the International Business Exchange at the Universidad de Adolfo Ibáñez in Santiago, Chile. It is the country’s top-ranked private business university.
“My passion has always involved learning as much as I can in order to help others,” Flores said. The scholarship “has been a great honor and a catalyst toward achieving my goals and dreams of strengthening international business in my parents' home country and helping improve the lives of so many others out there.”
The SDSU students join more than 28,000 scholars from 1,324 U.S. institutions who have traveled to nearly 150 countries under the Gilman program. In addition to Flores, the following students will be studying abroad:
- Tasha Irianto, a liberal studies major, will be part of the International Student Exchange Programs at BINUS University in Jakarta, Indonesia.
- Alondra Moreno, an art-graphic design major, will travel to Italy, where she will be studying at the CSU International Program’s CSU Florence Center for the entire academic year.
- Perla Echeverria, a double major in social work and international security and conflict resolution, will participate in the SDSU Exchange Program at Yonsei University - Global Village at Wonju Campus in South Korea. She will be in the program for the entire 2019-20 academic year.
- Martha Cortez, a third-year student majoring in kinesiology, is headed to the United Kingdom as part of the SDSU Exchange Program at the University of Hertfordshire.
- Richard Amaechi, a senior majoring in international business with an emphasis in Japanese and finance, is bound for Japan for the International Business Exchange at Sophia University.
- Kris Ashley Gallardo, a senior double major in mechanical engineering and Japanese, will be heading to Japan to be part of the SDSU Exchange Program at Rikkyo University during the spring semester.
In 2017-18, 92% of the Gilman scholars had not previously studied abroad, and 47% were first-generation college students.
SDSU has been well-represented in the program’s history. Its 34 Gilman scholars rank in the top 20 of institutions nationwide.
SDSU has established itself as a leading institution for international education. The university ranks fifth in the nation for the number of students studying abroad. A record 3,145 students studied or interned internationally during the 2018-19 academic year, according to the SDSU Office of International Programs.
“I cannot wait to share my experiences — good or not so good — to encourage others to step out of their comfort zones and break through an amazing chapter of life,” Flores said.
Flores and several of the scholarship recipients will chronicle their experiences on the Be International Blog.
Students interested in the Gilman Scholarship should visit gilmanscholarship.org or view information on scholarships in the Aztecs Abroad database or contact the SDSU Study Abroad office at [email protected].
