Miami, Dec. 17, 2020 – Miami Dade College (MDC) students Angelo Douillon, Aries Wilson, Izamara Zamora, Samuel Salazar and Taniyah Holmes have been selected to participate in the prestigious U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. They will join undergraduate students representing 307 colleges and universities across the U.S. who will study or intern in 87 countries through the end of 2021.
The scholarship awards up to $5,000 to undergraduate students who are dependents of active duty service members to study or intern abroad on credit-bearing programs. The scholarship is named for the late Congressman Gilman, who served in the House of Representatives for 30 years and chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Douillon will study abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina to learn and understand other countries and cultures. He plans to pursue a career in the FBI after he graduates with an associate degree in computer science.
By visiting Florence, Italy, Wilson will step out of her comfort zone and adapt to a different style of learning. The biology major will graduate in 2022 and aspires to become an orthopedic surgeon.
The opportunity to grow civically and socially on a global level draws Zamora to study abroad in Indonesia. The biology major will graduate next year and hopes to become a pediatric physician.
Japan has always been a country Salazar wanted to visit for its rich culture and beautiful landscapes. The sociology major plans to graduate in 2023.
Holmes will visit England, the birthplace of her favorite artist, Adele. She plans to pursue a career in forensic psychology upon graduating in 2021.
Included in the Gilman scholarship program are recipients of the John McCain International Scholarship for the Children of Military Families (Gilman-McCain Scholarship). Developed under the framework of the State Department’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, the John McCain International Scholarship for the Children of Military Families (Gilman-McCain Scholarship) is open to eligible students enrolled at accredited U.S. colleges and universities who receive any type of Title IV federal financial aid.
The Gilman-McCain Scholarship is a congressionally funded initiative of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and named after the late senator John S. McCain from Arizona. With the support of the U.S. Congress, this scholarship honors the Senator’s legacy of public service by enabling undergraduate children of active duty military to develop the leadership and career readiness skills and global perspective to pursue careers of service and contribute to preserving the principles and alliances that are critical to an international order based on the rule of law, human rights, and democracy.
Due to the pandemic, the Gilman Program is committed to offering flexibility to participants whose plans may be impacted. The Gilman Program will support students who are unable to start their programs abroad in their original destination or in the original timeframe by helping to identify alternative program options, by permitting students to defer to a program through the end of 2021, or by supporting participation in a virtual study abroad or international internship program.
Since the program’s establishment in 2001, more than 1,300 U.S. institutions have sent over 33,000 Gilman Scholars of diverse backgrounds to 151 countries around the globe. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study. To learn more, visit https://gilmanapplication.iie.org.