Eight SDSU Students Earn Gilman Scholarships

“I am able to travel somewhere I have never been before while also expanding my knowledge and furthering my education. I am grateful that I received the Gilman Scholarship.”

As a first-generation Mexican immigrant, Zury Garcia never considered studying abroad an attainable goal. 
At the urging of her campus advisers, however, the junior in international business applied for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, a U.S. State Department scholarship program that has enabled students with financial need to intern and study abroad for nearly 19 years. 
Garcia, who is specializing in Japanese and marketing, learned last month she was one of eight San Diego State University students to receive a Gilman Scholarship for 2020, which will enable her to study at the International Business Exchange at Sophia University in Japan next spring. 
The eight student awards represent an increase from seven awardees during the last selection cycle. SDSU has had 33 Gilman scholars to date, ranking in the top 20 nationwide. 
“The Study Abroad Office is very happy to see an increase in Gilman Scholarship recipients, in part because of the increase in applications,” said Ryan McLemore, an adviser in the International Student Center. The scholarships are open to U.S. citizens who receive federal Pell Grants, and McLemore said SDSU’s push to encourage more students to apply has led to an increase in awards. 
To Garcia, who immigrated to Riverside County with her family when she was five years old, the scholarship is a “game-changer” that will help her develop her Japanese language skills and learn about business from a different perspective.
“As a first-generation immigrant from Mexico, studying abroad seemed like an unrealistic dream, but through the Gilman scholarship it is now becoming reality,” Garcia said. “Studying abroad in Japan will also be my first time being on my own – and in a whole new country.”
Additional students in the latest SDSU cohort of Gilman scholars will travel to Indonesia, Costa Rica, France and Spain. Some will attend programs as short as the winter recess; others will study abroad for the full academic year.
They join a network of over 28,000 scholars from 1,324 U.S. institutions who have traveled to nearly 150 countries through the Gilman program, which offers up to $5,000 in scholarship money to help defray the costs of program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance, international airfare, passport and visa fees.
In addition to Garcia, these students will be studying abroad through the Gilman Scholarship:

• Ana Rios Caballero, a senior majoring in political science and French, is currently in France on the SDSU Exchange at Institut D’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) for the academic year, and she was awarded the scholarship to cover her spring semester. “I feel really lucky to receive the award this second time around, and it reminds me to never give up on my goals,” said Rios, who is from Whittier. “I’m excited to finish my year abroad with the help of this scholarship and hope to inspire others to pursue their dreams of going abroad.”’
• Diana Gutierrez, a senior environmental science major, is participating in a turtle conservation program during the winter recess in Costa Rica. There, she will work alongside biologists performing field work she hopes will impress potential employers following her graduation in May. “To study abroad was something that was unheard of to me,” said Gutierrez, who is from Los Angeles. “It’s hard to comprehend that I was able to receive an award to study abroad, so I am grateful that this program exists for us, and I am excited to go.”
• Christa Insana, a senior communications and Japanese double major, will attend Hosei University in Tokyo during the spring 2020 semester as part of an IB Exchange program. “Studying abroad is both an exciting and stressful endeavor, so I'm very thankful for the opportunity to receive funds,” the U.S. Navy veteran said.  
• Daisy Kent, a senior communications major from Becker, Minnesota, is participating in an Academic Programs International program for business and liberal arts in Barcelona, Spain, during the spring 2020 semester. 
• Neyla Buil Macarty, a junior political science major from Coronado, is also participating in the SDSU Exchange at Institut D’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)  for spring 2020. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent the Gilman Scholarship and SDSU while in France,” Macarty said. “I cannot wait to share my experience abroad with my community.” 
• Sulayman Mohamed, a senior mechanical engineering major from San Diego, will travel to Indonesia for an International Volunteer HQ program during the winter break, where he will do construction and renovation in Bali.
• Rachel Ullrich, a senior international business major from Encinitas, was originally scheduled to attend an exchange program in Chile for the spring semester, but she expects to attend a sister program in Costa Rica due to Chile’s ongoing civil unrest. “Regardless of where I am going, the prospect of studying abroad allows me to explore a new country and culture,” Ullrich said. “I am able to travel somewhere I have never been before while also expanding my knowledge and furthering my education. I am grateful that I received the Gilman Scholarship.”

At SDSU, most Gilman scholars have not previously studied abroad. In 2017-18, about half the recipients were first-generation college students.
“Accessibility to transformational international experiences is a high priority for the university, and the Gilman Scholarship provides that important financial support for unde-represented students to have a study-abroad experience, international internship or volunteer experience,” McLemore said. 
There has been an increase of students receiving Gilman scholarships who are doing their study abroad in nontraditional locales.
“In addition to simply encouraging students to apply, we also highly recommend students pursue underrepresented destinations and longer durations because those are also preferences in the Gilman program,” McLemore said. 
SDSU has established itself as a leading institution for international education. The university ranks fifth in the nation for 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. 
Students interested in the Gilman Scholarship should visit gilmanscholarship.org or view information on scholarships in the Aztecs Abroad database (sdsu.edu/aztecsabroad) or contact the SDSU Study Abroad office by emailing [email protected].