Seven Students Awarded Scholarships from the State Department to Study Foreign Languages

A record number of WT students were awarded full scholarships to study languages by the U.S. Department of State's National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a highly selective, intensive language program open to high school students who are U.S. citizens.

• Senior Ryan Woo, junior Tommy Gordon, and sophomore Rho Bloom-Wang were selected for the NSLI-Y Summer Chinese program. Ryan and Tommy will be participating in the program in Taiwan, and Rho will be participating in the program online.
• Seniors Mitra Nourbakhsh and Emily Rotondi were selected for the NSLI-Y Summer Persian program in Tajikistan
• Juniors Aria Narasimhan and Rohan Sykora were selected for the NSLI-Y Summer Arabic program in Morocco.

NSLI-Y immerses participants in the cultural life of the host country, providing formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures. Participants receive intensive language instruction, live with a host family for all or part of the program, and participate in community service and a variety of cultural activities.

Congratulations to all!

The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program was launched in 2006 to promote critical language learning among American youth. The U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, awards and administers merit-based scholarships to high school students for participation in summer and academic year immersion programs in locations where the eight NSLI-Y languages are spoken.