Monday, August 09, 2010
Gilman International Scholarship winner Monika Wathen has a passion for language
Monica Wathen
Contact for more information:
Wendy Knipe Bredhold Media Relations Specialist, News & Information Services 812/461-5259 Wathen, a USI psychology and Spanish major, is bilingual. Fluent in Spanish, she plans to learn Chinese by fully immersing herself in the culture. She'll study abroad in China this fall as a 2010 recipient of a $3,500 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The nationally-competitive scholarship will help defray her travel costs. "China is so different from America," she said. "I enjoy a challenge, and it's a challenge to understand their language. It's not Latin-based like Spanish. It's not like any kind of alphabet I'm familiar with. The challenge drew me to it, and the fact that I can take Chinese classes at USI is an added bonus." Wathen will arrive in China in late August. After a 10-day orientation period in Beijing, she will attend Sichuan University in Chengdu, where she will take classes in Chinese history, calligraphy, Mandarin, and Tai Chi. During her semester in China, she also plans to travel to Russia, Kazakhstan, and South Korea. She became interested in international culture as a USI freshman, when she was placed in the Global Community Living-Learning Community. "My roommate was from Italy, and every Wednesday we had multicultural programming," she said. "I went to an information session on study abroad and got excited about that." In fall 2009, she studied in Argentina. "Everything was in Spanish there. My host mom didn't speak English, it was straight Spanish." She saved money for the trip to China by working in a restaurant where her co-workers primarily spoke Spanish, allowing her to practice speaking the language. "It's just like English for me now. It just flows right out." Learning languages has given her the opportunity to meet new people and learn about their cultures. "It allows you to communicate with people you wouldn't have met otherwise," she said. Wathen served as president of Activities Programming Board (APB), College of Liberal Arts representative to the Student Government Association (SGA), and secretary of Bodies of Christ Ministries, a student organization. She is a member of the Spanish Club and Latinos Unidos and serves as a study abroad ambassador. The daughter of Walter and Georgia Wathen of Indianapolis, Wathen is a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School. She expects to graduate from USI in December 2011. |
Copyright © 2013 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.
