ISSUED: 17 December 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University student Aleigha Collins will spend next semester studying in Spain thanks in part to a $3,000 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. A business major and Spanish minor from Morgantown, Collins will attend La Universitat de Barcelona, where she will take classes that will help her complete her minor and contribute to her major.
“I am incredibly excited to be studying abroad in Spain because it has been something that I have talked about since I was 9 years old,” Collins said. “Being a Spanish minor and just being genuinely in love with the Spanish language, becoming a fluent Spanish speaker is a dream and I know spending these next four months in Barcelona will help me immensely.”
During her time in Spain Collins is looking forward to staying with a host family.
“This will be an experience that I have waited for my entire life and I could not be more excited,” she said. “I hope to come back stronger in Spanish and culturally enriched. I could not be more grateful for this opportunity and I thank Gilman from the bottom of my heart for making my dream a reality.”
Collins is taking her trip through Academic Programs International (API), which specializes in organizing study abroad programs. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is an undergraduate program for U.S. citizens of limited financial means to enable them to study abroad.
For more information, contact Yin Star, study abroad director, at ystar@shepherd.edu.
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