(Posted March 16, 2018)

Photo: Sarah Rohrer '20

Photo: Sarah Rohrer '20

Huntingdon, Pa. – Isabelle Wojciechowski, a senior with an individualized Program of Emphasis (POE) in international environmental studies and economics, has earned a full scholarship with the Critical Language Studies (CLS) program of the U.S. Department of State to spend the summer studying Chinese in Changchun, China.

“I became aware of the program through my Chinese professor, Jingxia Yang, here at Juniata,” Wojciechowski says. “I’d already taken all the Chinese classes at Juniata and was furthering my skills through an independent study with her when she told me I might be a good candidate for the CLS program.”

The U.S. Department of State’s CLS program is an initiative to increase the number of Americans studying languages critical to foreign relations. The application process requires multiple essays and recommendations.

 “I really appreciate that my professors, Jingxia Yang and Brad Andrews, wrote me recommendations, and that Professor David Hsiung helped me revise my essays,” says Wojciechowski. Her studies will be fully funded by the Department of State while she studies Mandarin in Changchun.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Wojciechowski found her passion for the language while studying abroad in Danang, Vietnam, during her freshman year.

“If it wasn’t for Juniata and my professors I wouldn’t have been aware of these opportunities,” says Wojciechowski.

“It was clear to me that I wanted to come back and study or work in Asia, so when I transferred to Juniata, I decided to study Chinese, knowing with a second language I would be able to further my business and personal skills in a global context,” she says.

In the spring of 2017, Wojciechowski was abroad at the East China Normal University in Shanghai. Over the summer, she participated in the American Council of International Education’s Taiwan intensive summer language program at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.

“If it wasn’t for Juniata and my professors I wouldn’t have been aware of these opportunities,” says Wojciechowski.

 

--Written by Zach Hesse ’18-- 

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.