Gilman Scholarship Program Composing Competitive Essays Transcript 2016

Transcription

1 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program: Welcome to the Gilman Scholarship Program s Composing Competitive Essays video! In this video we will provide some insight into the essay requirements and recommendations on how to enhance your Gilman application. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs (ECA), supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The goal of ECA is to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, and they do so by facilitating opportunities of academic, professional, athletic, and other cultural exchange. The Gilman Scholarship is just one of the many programs sponsored by ECA, and Gilman Scholars become part of a growing network of ECA-sponsored programs. IIE is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1919 with the goal of advancing international education. IIE administers over 250 programs that work toward this goal and include programs such as scholarships and programming for students, scholars and professionals around the world, training and leadership programs, as well as conducting research and facilitating dialogue on global higher education. Gilman Scholarship Program Overview: This congressionally funded program is named after Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman from New York, who retired in 2012 after 30 years of service in the House of Representatives and chairing the House Foreign Relations Committee. The program was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 and began in The Gilman Program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented internships abroad. Such international exchange is intended to better prepare U.S. students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world. The goal of the program is to diversify the kinds of students who study and intern abroad as well as the countries where they go. Since inception, we have awarded over 22,000 undergraduates at more than 1,200 institutions for programs in over 140 countries. Essays: In your Gilman Scholarship application, you are required to submit two essays the Statement of Purpose and Follow-on Service Project proposal. These essays are closely reviewed by the National Selection Panel, which consists of university professionals from across the U.S. that the program invites to evaluate scholarship applications. Since you will not be meeting the selection panel in person and they will not be someone from your institution, these essays are your chance to let them get to know who you are and what your reasons are for studying or interning abroad. In the application, the Gilman Program provides prompts for each essay, which are questions that you should consider answering in a concise and coherent manner. Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 1 of 6

2 Each essay is limited to a maximum of 7,000 characters, including spaces; this should be approximately 1 ½ pages, singlespaced if you were to first draft your essay in a word processing program and then copy and paste it into the application. We highly recommend this method, as the application system will time you out after 15 minutes of inactivity. Please note, the system has limited text formatting, and we highly recommend making sure that your paragraphs are distinguishable. Essay #1: Let s talk about the first essay for the Gilman Scholarship Application. The Statement of Purpose is your chance to personalize your application and explain who you are, why you are studying abroad, your academic and professional goals and how the Gilman Scholarship can help you accomplish them. You should also touch upon what inspired you to study abroad and what challenges you may have faced to choose to study abroad, which can include family and work obligations, health or disability challenges. All students applying to the Gilman Program have financial need, so if you wish to write on this, also elaborate on other challenges you may face. What makes you unique? All of our students are unique in one way or another but it s up to you to point out what sets you apart, what your passions are, and why this study abroad program fits you academically, professionally, and personally. For example, say you are a history major and you are specializing in the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe. You plan on writing your thesis on the Balkan Wars, and you ve found the perfect program that will help you understand the region, both historically and culturally. After you graduate, you would like to go to graduate school for history and eventually work for a think tank in international development. Lastly, you have never lived more than 30 minutes away from your parents, and you know that studying abroad will teach you how to be independent and adaptable. It s up to you to tell a story like this in your Statement of Purpose, but in your own words, and to make the selection committee understand reasoning for the program you have chosen - almost make it seem obvious and clear as to why you are choosing that program as if it wouldn t make sense to go anywhere else! If you think your story may not be as clear cut, you can still make your reasoning clear. We ve spoken with a student who is majoring in speech pathology, with a minor in business. She explained that she has chosen these academic pursuits because she wants to open up her own business one day. She found a program in Australia that offers both speech pathology and business classes, which has been difficult for her since most programs only offer one or the other. While this path might not be as clear cut, and she is going to a popular destination, if she is able to articulate her reasoning behind choosing the specific program to meet her academic, professional, and personal goals, she will have a competitive essay to submit. Tips for Statement of Purpose Essay: When composing the Statement of Purpose Essay it is important to address why you are studying abroad and the impact that your program will have on your academic, professional, and personal goals. It is critical to clearly and concisely convey the purpose of your study abroad plans and expected impact. In addition, keep in mind that the selection panelists can t make assumptions about you or your background - be sure to disclose information about the diversity of your background and interests that you are comfortable sharing. What you don t clearly share, the selection committee won t know. Some key points to keep in mind and ask yourself are: What impact will this study abroad program and receiving the Gilman Scholarship have on my academic goals? Will I be able to take coursework abroad towards my major or minor requirements? Will I be able to take electives or pursue further language training not available to me on my home campus? How will this study abroad program impact any future academic goals that I may have, such as obtaining a graduate degree? Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 2 of 6

3 What impact will my choice of country have on my experience abroad? What initially inspired me to want to study abroad in this particular country or learn this language? What factors led to my choice of country of study? What impact will my choice of program have on my experience abroad? Are there unique components, such as homestays that will impact my experience abroad? What impact will this study abroad program and receiving the Gilman Scholarship have on my professional goals? Will I be able to pursue internships or volunteer opportunities that support my overall career goals? Will I be able to learn skills or conduct research that will be necessary to me in my future career? What impact will this study abroad program and receiving the Gilman Scholarship have on me personally? On a personal level, what initially inspired me to want to study abroad in this particular country? What challenges, if any, have I faced in my decision to study abroad? What impact would receiving the Gilman Scholarship have on these challenges? For example do I face family obligations or concerns that hinder my ability to study abroad? Other examples include, but are not limited to, being a non-traditional student, having a learning or physical disability, being in a field of study for which it is difficult to incorporate study abroad, etc. Don t forget to have your essay proofread by your advisors, at your campus writing center or ask a professor. Another set of eyes can help eliminate easy errors, such as where spell check might not catch your misuse of abroad as aboard, along with grammar and overall review. Of course, we urge you not to wait until the last minute to start on your essays! The more time you have available for others helping review and proof-reading, the better. Essay Writing Exercises: Now that you understand what the Gilman Program is asking for in the Statement of Purpose essay, we ll walk through two exercises you can use to help you identify key information and how to incorporate them into your essays, while weaving together your story in a clear and concise manner. Connecting the Dots: A Gilman Scholar who studied abroad in India, provided us with her Connecting the Dots journey, pictured on this slide. She identified and plotted out the key points that led her to plan to study abroad, her program choice based on academic, professional and personal goals and values. She started with explaining her advisor as a catalyst to her interest in studying abroad and the support they provided. This led to her being more aware of the kinds of programs that she could participate in and programs that connected to her interests and would benefit her academically and professionally, which included experiential learning in a new environment and participating in community service. She articulated how she could further explore her career interests and how the program aligned with her academic requirements and interests, including the interdisciplinary program and courses offered. She knew she wanted to be personally challenged and explained how she may encounter and overcome those challenges, as well as disclosing how she could benefit from those experiences. This all connected deeply to her values of helping and learning from others. Can you think of what key points you will address and how you can connect the dots to tell your story and rationale for program choice in your Statement of Purpose essay? Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 3 of 6

4 Application Tips Personal Essay: Mind mapping is another exercise that may be helpful if you d like to think through your story as a whole. Laying out your story in this way can aid you in crafting a strong Statement of Purpose essay for the Gilman Scholarship. The first part of the exercise will be to list out different aspects of your personal history in four different categories: situational, choices, relationships, and interests. You can use a blank sheet of paper or an Excel spreadsheet to brainstorm. In each column, list out as many items as you can. If we refer back to our applicant interested in Eastern Europe, the chart may look something like this: adopted siblings from Eastern Europe, grew up in small-town in Midwest, and first in family to go to college under Situational; volunteered working with refugees, thesis on Balkan Wars, and major in History under Choices; intentionally joined international student club in high school, pen pal program with Eastern European girl, and seek out mentors in international development under Relationships; and Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe, cultural knowledge, application of history, and international development under Interests. After you have your items in each column, select one element from each column by circling it. Then combine those circled elements to tell your story. For our example we will select: first in family to go to college for situational, volunteered working with refugees for choices, seek out mentors in international development for relationships, and Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe for interests. This student could write about how being a first generation college student, volunteering to work with refugees, seeking out mentors in international development, and her interests in Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe all tie together in her reasoning and motivation to study abroad. With your selected elements, take a step back and ask yourself: does it tell a compelling story? Is it missing anything? If so, try it with different combinations. You want to see that your story can be told many ways. Just be sure to include relevant parts of the story that help explain why you want to study abroad and how studying abroad will help you to develop personally, academically, and professionally. Keep in mind that you will want to be sure to respond to the specific prompts for the essay and that this exercise can be used as a brainstorming tool rather than a template on how to write your essay. Essay #2: The Gilman Program and the program sponsors at the U.S. Department of State value your ability to raise awareness for study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship on U.S. campuses and communities. Therefore, the Follow-on Service Project proposal requires you to design a project to promote study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship. In this essay, students are asked to map out a potential project for completion upon their return to the U.S. that will encourage others to study or intern abroad and spread awareness of the Gilman Scholarship. The project can be completed on your home campus or in your local community, and it must be completed within 6 months of your return to the U.S. Key aspects to this essay are the creativity and feasibility of your proposal. The Gilman Program advises students to use activities and organizations that they are already involved in as inspiration such as student clubs, academic departments, and can therefore begin discussion of their project with key contacts, even prior to being awarded the Gilman Scholarship. We also ask students to consider their audience, tools and timeline when proposing their project for the Gilman Scholarship application. Examples of Follow-on Service Projects: Examples of Follow-on Service Projects include videos, presentations to groups on your campus, talking to high school students, and working with study abroad offices. There is not one specific proposal that guarantees a scholarship, but we do encourage you to be creative and realistic in your proposal. Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 4 of 6

5 Here are a few examples of actual Follow-on Service Projects that Gilman Scholars have completed and reported to the program. As you can see, there is a wide range of projects that you can propose in this essay, so design one that fits you and meets the goal of spreading the word about study abroad and Gilman. We also have a few additional examples on our website under the Apply section. Essay Tips Reminders: We ve reviewed a lot of information thus far, so here s a recap of the tips to keep in mind when composing your essays. Answer prompts that are provided in the application. There are key points to consider and you are to write these essays using transitions; don t write bulleted answers in response to the questions. Your proposal for the Follow-on Service Project should be creative, as you want it to stand out from the other applicant proposals, but also keep it a feasible plan of action that you can complete without questioning your ability to complete it. This shouldn t be difficult if you are able to work with organizations and groups you may already be involved with. Of course, our strongest recommendation for the essays is to not wait until the last minute and make sure you have time to have your essays proofread. We have heard from many of our recipients that they went through multiple drafts of their essays and had other people proofread and provide feedback before submitting, so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to compose the best possible essay. Stay Connected: There are lots of ways to stay connected to the Gilman Program that will help you better understand the program, and support you through the application process. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. View videos both instructional and informational on our YouTube channel and follow Gilman Scholars abroad on our Gilman Global Experience Blog. Don t forget to review the webinar schedule on our website to tune into live presentations about the Gilman Scholarship and application. Lastly, subscribe to the applicant e-newsletter, a four-volume series during the application cycle that provides tips and resources as you complete your Gilman application. Search #gilmanscholarship for more on social media! Other Resources for International Exchange: Although we are very happy that you are considering applying for the Gilman Scholarship, we also want you to take advantage of the many other resources available to you as you search for study abroad scholarships. So whether you receive the Gilman Scholarship or not, it s always best to have options of choosing which scholarship to accept or to have additional scholarships to help fund your entire study abroad experience. There are resources available on the Gilman website. Within the Bureau, the U.S. Study Abroad Office is committed to shaping and sustaining a more peaceful, prosperous and just world by increasing and diversifying participation in study abroad. We encourage you to visit the USA Study Abroad website at studyabroad.state.gov and access the many resources they have available, such as travel health and safety information, student mobility data, country and regional profiles, and study abroad program information. Also, check out studyabroadfunding.org, an online searchable database of various study abroad scholarships. Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 5 of 6

6 Contact Information: Thank you for watching the Gilman Scholarship Program s Composing Competitive Essays video. On the screen you will find contact information for applicants based on last name, and the address for on-campus Gilman advisors to connect with the program. This contact information can also be found on the Gilman website. If you have any questions as you go through the application process, please contact your appropriate Gilman representative. Additionally, we want to remind you that we have a Frequently Asked Questions section, videos and other detailed information on the Gilman website, which you can access at any time. Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) Page 6 of 6