Wednesday, May 16, 2012

UAE Scholarship Students Accepted to VT

Abdulrahman Aljaberi and Hamdan Alhosani, both from the United Arab Emirates and recipients of the prestigious Distinguished Student Scholarship, have been accepted to Virginia Tech in the fall as undergraduates.
Abdulrahman will study Electrical Engineering, and Hamdan will study Mechanical Engineering. Both have been model students at the LCI with perfect attendance rates and a perfect 4.0 GPA since they began in Fall 2011. Congratulations to both excellent students who are well on the path to academic success!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

VT Phi Beta Delta Awards Scholarships

Virginia Tech's Gamma Omega chapter of Phi Beta Delta is pleased to announce the winners of the Spring 2012 scholarships, which are made possible by the generous support of the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute.

Both graduate and undergraduate students are eligible to apply; selection criteria is based on good academic standing (3.2 GPA undergraduate, 3.6 GPA graduate), enrollment in credit-bearing programs with language and cultural engagement components, and trips to non-traditional destinations for extended stays. Tech-managed programs, bilateral and International Student Exchange Programs, Virginia Tech Direct, and non-Tech programs and independent programs with a clear academic goal, qualify for consideration. All applicants are required to submit an essay that describes how their experience will promote the values of the organization, and winners may be requested to present at a Phi Beta Delta event upon their return. Awards of up to $5,000 may be issued at the discretion of the selection committee. Scholarships are awarded in the fall and spring semesters.

The following students were awarded scholarships:

Brooke Reynolds is the recipient of a $4,000 scholarship to be applied to her Fall 2012 semester study program at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Valparaíso, Chile.
Jeremy Rommel has received a $4,000 award to fund his Fall 2012 semester in Argentina or Chile.
Gregory Kralik has been selected as the winner of a $1,000 scholarship to participate in the Summer 2012 'From Rainforest to Reef' program in Belize led by Professor Marcella Kelly.
Lyn Moore, a native of Leesburg, Virginia, is a doctoral candidate in the Human Development: Marriage and Family Therapy program who has been chosen as the recipient of a $1,000 award to attend the 'South Africa: Lifespan Community Services and Education' program in Mafikeng, South Africa during the Summer II semester.
Megan Murray has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship to participate in a Francophone Studies program in Rabat, Morocco during the Summer 2012 semester.

My Valdivia Travelogue VIII

By Georgia Wyche

The first semester has begun and things have picked up at UACh. Part of my teaching load includes teaching Psycholinguistics, Advanced English Grammar, and a class on phrasal verbs for the English department. I’m substituting two of the classes for a teacher who is on maternity leave. The teacher comes back to work in the middle of April.  So far it has been an enriching experience and I’m also happy to be working with the English pedagogy students once again.

In addition to teaching classes for the English department, I’m also teaching for the UACh Outreach Department. I’m teaching a Basic English class to local artisans in Valdivia. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to teach classes to people from the community not affiliated with the university.

I also recently began working at the Australian Corner, which is similar to the American Corner on the Isla Teja campus. The Australian Corner is located on the Mira Flores campus, which is about a ten minutes bus ride from the UACh Isla Teja campus. I’m teaching Basic English classes to students studying engineering and computer science.

 In the beginning of March, the scientific writing workshop that was held in January had a small ceremony. The students who attended regularly and completed all of the assignments received a certificate of completion.  

The scientific writing workshop will become a class for honors students in the middle of April. I will be co-teaching this class with UACh professor, Dr. Sandor Mulsow. The class will meet once a week until the middle of June. I’m looking forward to working with him.

Along with teaching the classes mentioned, I continue to teach English conversation classes to UACh journalists and I’m doing some private tutoring.  I enjoy working with the journalists because they are a lively group. I’m tutoring a few students who need to brush up on their English before heading to the United States in June.

My UACh teaching experience is drawing to a close in about two and a half months, so I will do my best to make the most out of the time I have left.