Honors student at GHC earns scholarship to travel to Italy

 

Georgia Highlands College’s Cheryse Carter, an honors student, recently earned the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The $3,000 award will fund her participation in Kennesaw State University's month-long program to Montepulciano, Italy, this summer.

“The Gilman Scholarship is a prestigious national scholarship program for undergraduate students with limited means who intend to participate in a study abroad program of a least one month in duration,” Associate Professor of History Bronson Long said.

The five-week Montepulciano, Italy, Summer Study abroad program allows students an opportunity to take lower and upper division course work in historic Tuscany. Montepulciano is centrally located between Rome and Florence with accessible bus and rail transportation to the rest of Italy. Kennesaw State University has overseen this study abroad program since 2000.

Carter said that if it wasn't for the scholarship, she would not have even considered going, but she expressed how grateful she is to have taken the time to apply.
 
"I've never been anywhere outside the of the Southeast," she said. "I'm really excited to step outside the boundaries of the U.S. and to be immersed in the entirety of another culture."

Carter is the first student from GHC to be awarded the Gilman Scholarship. She says she really hopes to be an example to all other GHC students. When she is finished, she wants to put together a presentation to show students that it is more than possible to obtain scholarships like this one and do something they have never done before.

"Being the first student from GHC to have been awarded this scholarship allows me to shed light on the opportunities for student travel,” she said. “I feel like I’m going to learn more in that four weeks than I ever have before. It’s going to be completely different to actually witness some of the things I have been learning about.”

Carter thinks it’s fitting that the last course she needs to graduate from GHC is World Literature, which she will be taking in Italy. Once she completes her study abroad, Carter will graduate from GHC with a psychology degree. She plans to transfer to Kennesaw State University next to work toward her bachelor’s degree.

The Gilman Scholarship Program broadens the student population that studies and interns abroad by supporting undergraduates who might not otherwise participate due to financial constraints. The program aims to encourage students to choose non-traditional study and intern destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The Gilman Scholarship Program aims to support students who have been traditionally under-represented in education abroad, including but not limited to, students with high financial need, community college students, students in underrepresented fields such as the sciences and engineering, students with diverse ethnic backgrounds, and students with disabilities. The program seeks to assist students from a diverse range of public and private institutions from all 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.