Sa'javeane Wright was selected as a recipient of a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad.
Wright, a business and modern languages-Japanese major, will study Japanese at Nazan University in Nagoya, Japan for the next nine months. She is among nearly 3,000 undergraduate students from across the U.S. selected for the 2022 scholarship.
"It means the world to me that I won the Gilman," said Wright. "I didn't expect to receive the scholarship due to its competitiveness, but it has been a tremendous help."
A requirement of the scholarship is that students create a “follow-on service project” that is completed upon the conclusion of their study abroad. For Wright's project, she plans "to go back to my high school to hold a presentation for interested seniors about the Gilman Scholarship. When I was in high school, and study abroad options were offered to me, I believed I wouldn't be able to go. My family just doesn't have that kind of money. I know there are kids who feel the same way, so I want to help by giving them [the awareness]."
The Gilman Scholarship is a nationally competitive program that assists students with study abroad expenses. The program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go. The scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Wright is one of nearly 60 NWU students who have received the Gilman Scholarship since the program began in 2001.
She graduated from Westside High School in Omaha.