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Gilman Scholars Making a Difference in World and Beyond

Mon, Aug 5, 2024

When UCF Knights embark on their collegiate journey, there are many places their education will take them. One of those places are overseas.

With the support of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, 15 UCF students will have the opportunity to further their education internationally by studying abroad. Each recipient is awarded up to $5,000 to fund their overseas studies.

Scholarships are awarded during two cycles each academic year. Here are the student awardees for the second cycle of the 2023-24 academic year cycles.

Gilman Scholarship Awardees

The scholarship program provides undergraduate students with limited financial means the opportunity to study or intern abroad and gain valuable academic and professional experience, language abilities and knowledge of the world needed to lead successful careers. The program looks to ensure that students from many different backgrounds have the chance to develop their intercultural skills while gaining a global perspective. Since the program’s establishment in 2001, more than 34,000 Gilman Scholars have studied in 155 countries around the world.

Dedication and Effort

As an art major with a track in visual arts management, Arielle Colon explores traditional art, 2D/3D art, sculpture, printmaking, bookbinding, ceramics and more. She participated in the Art Knight at UCF, which showcases art majors’ works, from animation to sculpture.

In Spring 2025, Colon will go to complete an arts and humanities study abroad internship in Brisbane or Melbourne, Australia. Colon plans to work with nonprofit organizations, visit art museums, aid in curating art exhibitions and create lifelong connections. She says the internship is directly aligned with her career goals and will provide her with hands-on experience in her field of study.

Colon says being awarded the Gilman Scholarship has boosted her academic confidence and motivation to apply for other scholarships, showing her that with dedication and effort, she can achieve significant milestones in her academic journey.

“It empowers me to undertake this transformative internship abroad, significantly contributing to my growth as a student and future professional [career] during my time at UCF and beyond,” she says.

Learning Language

Jieming Lin, a sophomore pre-marketing major, is going to Rio de Janeiro this fall, and while he is still developing his plan for his study abroad program, he would like to immerse himself in the culture. Lin says Brazil was always one of his picks, as he wanted to step out of his comfort zone, while also being reminded of when he moved from Miami to Orlando for UCF.

“That feeling of being placed in a completely different area by yourself, that … independence, I feel it’s really challenging and it’s daunting, but I think there’s a lot to gain from it,” Lin says.

Lin is a Critical Need Language Awardee, which is given to applicants who are studying languages that the U.S. government has identified as important for the continued growth and influence of the U.S. around the world. He says he’s been interested in being a polyglot, a person who knows and is able to use several languages.“I think it’s … useful [to speak multiple languages], and I feel like most people should know probably at least two languages,” Lin says.

Helping the Industry

Language is important to Zane De Luge, a kinesiology major, as well. Prior to coming to UCF, he studied French, German and Japanese, and has studied Arabic as a Middle Eastern studies minor. De Luge says he is looking to use his interest in language, his study of kinesiology and personal experience to make a difference in underserved communities.

When De Luge was younger, he suffered a cut to his thumb from a machete. At the time he lived in a community far from a hospital that had a hand surgeon, making it difficult to access the care he urgently needed. He ended up getting a bone infection and lost part of his thumb.

When he travels to Morrocco in December, De Luge aims to further his education in Arabic, as he aspires to work in healthcare in the Middle East.

“I think learning language and learning different facets of communication will hopefully help me as I eventually graduate and apply to medical school,” De Luge says. “Hopefully I will work in areas that do not get as much help from [the] medical [industry] as well.”

Learning Abroad

Some students are currently participating in their study abroad programs, such as Gabriela Rivas, a senior mechanical engineering major. With a goal to enter the motorsport industry and work in Formula 1 after graduation, she is taking an automotive engineering class at the University of Surrey in England. As part of the class, she visited McLaren Automotive factory in nearby Woking, where she toured some of the cars and saw the processing and manufacturing departments of the facility.

Rivas says she has enjoyed the way of living in England, especially after having previously visited the country. The academics have also allowed her to apply what she has learned at UCF while studying and completing projects at the University of Surrey.

“In the [United] States you have a lot of assignments, checkpoints to look forward to, homework and quizzes,” she said. “Over here, you go to class and at the end of the semester it’s just either one big project or one exam. They do prepare you well, but most of it is up to you to keep on top of your work. I would say the assignments are very fair to what you learn and what you should take away from the class.”

Community and Culture

Waldemar Morales, a digital media major, is also overseas, studying computer science in Barcelona, Spain. Though he has only been in Spain for a short period of time, he has experienced Barcelona’s culture by visiting sites such as Park Güell and the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.

As part of the class, he also visited a company that uses tap-and-go card technology (known as radio frequency identification or RFID) to open digital recycling bins around the city, making the environmentally friendly practice easier. With a passion for video game development, Morales also visited Rovio Entertainment, makers of the Angry Birds video game.

So far, Morales, a Spanish speaker, has enjoyed his time in Barcelona and notes a positive surprises in the way the city’s infrastructure.“I see these different things, [such as Barcelona’s public transportation and] I’m like, ‘Why don’t we have that in the U.S.?’ ” Morales says. “Especially with the public transportation, it’s out of this world.”

Personal Growth

Senior Micaela Tolentino is also in Barcelona, Spain, but she is studying cultural psychology. When the psychology major graduates, Tolentino says she would like to be a therapist or a clinical psychologist focusing on holistic health and psychology, such as art therapy. In addition to learning more about psychology, Tolentino has enjoyed Barcelona’s art scene. She has visited the Barcelona History Museum, and plans to go to the CosmoCaixa Museum of Science and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, which is the region that Barcelona is in.

“Everyone’s been really friendly and welcoming,” Tolentino says. “You get thrown into a different culture and you start to see like the similarities and differences of like where you’re from and kind of just adjusting to that.”

As part of the Gilman Scholarship, students will set up a project back home to give back to those in their community. Tolentino plans to go to her former high school and hold information sessions with students on the Gilman Scholarship, sharing her experience.

“I think the biggest thing is that it’s very inspiring and knowing that I can follow my passion, work, studies and career outside of my like home community,” Tolentino says. “The work that I do can impact places outside of Orlando and I can make connections with people I can learn from their experiences.”

Students interested in applying for the Gilman scholarship or other major national awards should contact the Office of Prestigious Awards at opa@ucf.edu.