The 2021 Boren Awards have been announced, and Brigham Young University has been recognized as a top-performing institution for Boren scholarships, with a total of six recipients and three alternates.
“The Boren scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships we help students apply for,” says James Mayo, Scholarships Coordinator at the BYU Kennedy Center for International Studies. “It’s quite competitive; most universities only receive one or two awards.”
The Boren Awards were created through legislation authored by David L. Boren, former US senator and governor of Oklahoma; they aid language study abroad in countries that are critical to US national interests.
The six winners from BYU are as follows: Ella Baldwin, Arabic; Elijah Bickmore, Arabic; Katherine Free, Chinese; Daniel Harker, Arabic; Frank (Drew) Horne, Korean; and Hunter Huillet, Arabic. The three alternates are Elisabeth Morse, Arabic; Benjamin Whatcott, Turkish; and Ryan Young, Chinese. “We are so happy to have so many recipients in such a difficult and distanced year,” says Mayo.
The application process involves preparing essays, letters of recommendation, and a study abroad budget proposal. Mayo begins working with applicants during fall semester to make sure applications are ready for submission in January, and he encourages all interested students to consider applying.
“The government is interested in a wide range of languages,” he says, emphasizing that students shouldn’t think the government only gives out this scholarships for “important” languages. “Everyone should feel encouraged to apply if they’re interested in studying a language anywhere in the world outside of Western Europe.”
Interested students can learn more at kennedy.byu.edu/boren.
—Emily Nelson, 18 May 2021