Gratitude
On an early morning drive to work I saw a stunning image: a quick and complete drop of fall leaves after a quintessential ND overnight temperature plunge. These leaves shimmered as they cascaded down through the morning dawn. I felt pure happiness watching this beautiful spray of sunlight highlighting the browns and yellows. The transition to fall in ND happens in moments and ushers in a time of reflection and gratitude.
I am so grateful for the students I serve. Scholarship applicants are remarkable young adults with amazing stories to tell. Through their application, I am privy to their most cherished wishes and given the opportunity to help make those wishes come true. These students will become important contributors to their fields, and I am blessed to share with them a moment in time on their path to impacting the world.
Join me in celebrating last year's scholarship awardees in a Scholarship Ceremony on 11.18.22, 1-2:30PM at MU 318. Meet our scholars, some attending in person and some by zoom. In this issue, Marshall Nunberg, one of these awardees, shares his experiences studying in Taiwan after winning the Huaya Enrichment Scholarship.
Also, congratulations to Sydney Menne, another awardee, who is now a Marshall Scholarship finalist. Marshall Scholarships fund graduate study in the United Kingdom. Announcements will take place at the end of the calendar year. If you would like to hear Sydney and other UND scholarship awardees (Patrica Hopp, Taylor Rhoel, and Nicole Rothenberger) share their stories growing up gifted and talented, visit my webinar on 11.15.22 for the North Dakota Association for Gifted Children.
With gratitude,
Yee Han Chu PhD
Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator
I want to congratulate Sydney Menne, a senior majoring in physics and mathematics, for being named a finalist for the Marshall Scholarships, one of the United States’ most prestigious international scholarships. The Marshall Scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Up to fifty scholars are selected each year for graduate study at an UK institution in any field of study. Students are selected for their academic merit, leadership potential, and ambassadorial potential. As future leaders with a lasting understanding of British society, Marshall Scholars strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, and their governments and institutions. The selection of this year’s scholars are announced in early December.
If selected for a Marshall Scholarship, Sydney plans to pursue a master’s degree in Propulsion and Engine Systems Engineering (Advanced Mechanical Engineering Science) at University of Southampton her first year and Environmental Policy and Management at University of Bristol in her second year. Sydney is also a Goldwater, Brooke Owens, and DAAD-Rise scholar.
To those high-achieving students and hard-working faculty members at the University of North Dakota, my warmest greetings from Taiwan! My name is Marshall Nunberg. I graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2018 with degrees in Political Science and Chinese Studies. Shortly after graduating, I moved to Guangzhou, China, and started working as an English teacher. During this time, I was applying for language scholarships and degree programs to continue my Chinese studies. It wasn’t until April 2022 that I was finally offered a scholarship to do just this and I couldn’t be more excited to be back in the classroom as a student! I’d like to take a moment to make this scholarship known to you.
I am able to study in Taiwan thanks to the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship. This is a great scholarship for several reasons. Firstly, it is open to everyone! You do not need prior experience in Chinese to apply! Secondly, it is a very flexible scholarship. The award periods are 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. If you unsure about making a long-term commitment to life in East Asia, this scholarship can support a summer term abroad instead! The stipend is enough to pay for tuition, housing, and economical living. Lastly, scholarship recipients can enroll in a government database in Taiwan that helps them find jobs after completion of their studies!
Currently I attend National Chengchi University’s Chinese Language Center. Every day I bike to class. It’s only a 20-minute bike ride, but some days this ride is not entirely pleasant. Taipei—and Taiwan more generally—is extremely hot and humid. Unpleasant as this bike ride may be physically, it is a moving experience to be surrounded by Taiwan’s incredible landscape. Taiwan is one of the most mountainous areas in the entire world. Nearly 70% of its landmass is covered in densely forested mountains. While only about the size of Maryland, Taiwan has nearly 300 peaks with an elevation of 3000 meters.
My class schedule is Monday through Friday from 8:00-11:00 a.m. I have nine classmates and they come from all over the world—Germany, Norway, South Korea, Thailand, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Getting to share the classroom with them has been an excellent opportunity to learn more about the world (pictured below). Each week we are responsible for giving a report about our respective countries. So far these reports have covered topics like our political systems, historical events, important holidays and celebrations, as well as sports. The classroom is a total immersion environment so everyone’s language skills are progressing quite fast.
For me, learning how to write traditional Chinese characters has been the most difficult part of the class. Although simplified and traditional scripts share some characters, many are different. Case in point. The simplified character for ‘permit, allow, let somebody do something’ is让. It has 5 strokes. The traditional character for the same word is讓 and has 24 strokes! So you can see that things get a bit confusing at times. However, I have already learned the importance of knowing both scripts. When filling out the form for my Alien Resident Certification, I accidentally wrote one of the characters in my name in simplified (马) and not traditional (馬). For this small mistake my application was rejected and I had to come back the next day to reapply! The good news is that with each test and homework assignment I am seeing less red pen!
Outside of the classroom, I am making friends with the locals by going to night markets or entertainment events. Usually a quick compliment, “Hey your food was really good!” or “Hey I like your shirt.” and the conversation starts to unfold. It has been through small talk that I’ve really gained some confidence in using my Chinese. It’s also a great way to learn localization. Oftentimes I’ll say a word that I would have used in China, but a local or my teacher will inform me, “This is actually how we say it here”. A quick lesson in localization.
I’m also trying to involve myself in extra-curricular events when possible. Just yesterday I had the chance to represent my language center as a student delegate at the 2022 Yushan Forum. This forum is held annually and is intended to bring together countries in the Indo-Pacific to discuss regional security, economic policy, and people to people exchanges (i.e. education, migrant work, international volunteer organizations). There were many notable people in attendance including the President and Vice President of Taiwan, members of parliament from several countries, ministers of various countries and various departments, semi-conductor industry leaders, academics, and researchers. All in all, I believe that the forum was a great opportunity to hear from those countries who have interests in a stable and thriving Indo-Pacific region.
Many of you probably are familiar with the stir that Fufeng has created in the Grand Forks community and North Dakota at large. I have even seen it reported on in newspapers over here in Taiwan. The process of global inter-connectedness, whether that be foreign direct investment, imports and exports, immigration, supply chain issues, international education, and pretty much whatever else you can think of, is happening in North Dakota. The most obvious examples being the export of agricultural products and oil. But as the process continues, I think that it is important for North Dakotans—especially our young adults—to develop the skills necessary to meet the challenges and opportunities this trend presents. To be sure, what I am about to say is not a polemic against STEM. These fields have their uses and applications, but if North Dakota wishes to navigate the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities of the 21st century, we must also possess a keen cultural awareness of the situation we are in. And the refinement of this awareness is to be sought in the humanities. So take that language class, try world history, study religion and philosophy, study classic literature from around the world, give international politics a go, buy that plane ticket and study abroad. The University of North Dakota is a great place to do just this! So take advantage of it while you can!
Alright, well I should probably get some studying in so I’m going to sign off for now. I am grateful to have a chance to communicate my experiences in Taiwan with everyone back at UND and look forward to continuing to do so in the future.
Best,
Marshall Nunberg.
CAPAL's Public Service Scholarships and Internships
CAPAL's Mission:
The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) seeks to empower Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) youth by increasing access to public service opportunities and building a strong AANHPI public service pipeline.
CAPAL’s Public Service Internship Program:
places undergraduate and graduate students within the public sector in the Washington, DC area and throughout the United States. Intern duties may include policy or scientific research, project coordination and management, business, law, communications, and more. Placements may be in rural or urban areas, such as Alaska, Delaware, and California. In addition to their internship requirements, interns will participate in CAPAL’s programming such as the Washington Leadership Program, be paired with professional mentors based on similar field interests, and reflect on their internships with other CAPAL interns and scholars during regular cohort sessions. Applicants are asked to specify their placement preferences on the application, and those selected will be placed based on their interests and skills. These internships are open to ALL MAJORS.
Eligibility: • Only currently enrolled students are eligible for an internship or scholarship through CAPAL. • U.S. citizenship is NOT required for CAPAL’s Public Service internships. Permanent residents, and in some instances, interns with appropriate work visas, are eligible to apply. Specific citizenship and residency requirements may vary by federal agency. CAPAL’s scholarships, however, are open to all students, regardless of residency or citizenship status.
Opens: Monday, November 7, 2022
Closes: Monday, February 13, 2022
The webinar recording is now available at https://youtu.be/Ows09dhYPpo.
The program's website is https://www.capal.org/site/.
Pat Tillman Scholarship
The Pat Tillman Foundation identifies remarkable military service members, veterans and spouses, empowering them with academic scholarships, lifelong leadership development opportunities and a diverse, global community of high-performing mentors and peers. Our scholars are making an impact as they lead through action in the fields of healthcare, business, public service, STEM, education and the humanities.
Our scholarship is available to:
- Active duty service members
- Veterans
- Military spouses
For more information on the Pat Tillman Foundation and the impact of the Tillman Scholars, visit the Pat Tillman website and Pat Tillman YouTube page. Additionally, watch these videos to learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation from our Tillman Scholars' perspectives.
Opened: Monday, October 31, 2022
Closes: Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Website: https://pattillman.smapply.org/prog/2023_tillman_scholar_application_/ or https://pattillmanfoundation.org/apply/
Yee Han Chu PhD MSSW
Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator
Drop In Hours at the Chester Fritz Library-Knowledge Commons
Tuesday: 10-11AM
Or, Email to Make an AppointmentEmail: yee.chu@und.edu
Website: https://und.edu/academics/national-scholarships/
Location: Columbia Hall, Room B307
Phone: 701.777.4436
