The Women of Distinction gala luncheon comes once a year, supporting a 拼搏体育 scholarship. 但是每天在大学里, 我们看到了这种奖学金的成果, in the terrific 影响 PBA students and graduates are having in their communities and across the globe.
来自乌兹别克斯坦, 通过Skype, Chanel Nassir recently talked about receiving the Women of Distinction Scholarship, finishing her degree in international business, and taking on an English teaching assistantship under the 富布赖特项目. The bright faces in the photo above give you a clue about how well she is doing in Uzbekistan.
最左边是富布赖特奖得主香奈儿, posing with members of a girl’s book club she organized after landing in the Uzbek city of Navoi. What better way to teach English than to share classics like “Sense and Sensibility”?
“太棒了，”香奈儿说. “These young girls have such a desire to learn, like a fire about them.”
她于2021年9月抵达乌兹别克斯坦, reporting on 脸谱网: “My first week in Navoi has been an absolute joy! 虽然我可能在千里之外, I feel right at home thanks to the kindness of those around me. What an honor it is to spend this year exchanging language and thought, all while experiencing beautiful Uzbekistan.”
的确，这是一种荣誉. The highly competitive 富布赖特项目 is the flagship international academic exchange sponsored by the U.S. 政府. Chanel is one of 14 PBA graduates to earn Fulbright placements since the university created its Prestigious National Scholarship Program several years ago.
富布赖特是亲善大使
The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs place Fulbrighters in classrooms around the world to provide assistance to local teachers of English. 在美国的支持下工作.S. 国务院, college graduates like Chanel serve as cultural ambassadors as they teach, 建立关系和善意.
在乌兹别克斯坦, 前苏联的一部分, 人们大多说俄语, 乌兹别克和塔吉克, 波斯语. In the region where Chanel began her assistantship, to her knowledge, she was the only American. 这带来了一些孤独, 她承认, “但也, it forced me to dive into the community and assimilate with the people in a way that I probably wouldn’t have if I had another American as a social crutch.”
于是她一头扎进去! In addition to the structured English classes she taught alongside an Uzbek teacher, Chanel enthusiastically took advantage of Uzbek hospitality: “the thing that really marks these people.” She received many dinner invitations to Uzbek homes, 她将在哪里加入这个家庭, sitting on lovely floor mats arranged around a low table.
Though the high school students in Chanel’s classes were eagerly learning English, the language barrier was tougher with the adults she encountered in students’ homes. “但我们可以各让一半，”她说. “我精通乌兹别克语, 他们的英语很蹩脚, and we learn to get to know each other a little bit.”
Working through the barriers of language and culture could be emotionally draining. She learned that these things simply take time. “Sometimes it’s just day in and day out being beside people and loving them, 为他们提供服务, 并为他们的需要做出贡献. And trusting that that’s enough before the Lord.”
现在教大学生英语
She was so well received in Uzbekistan that she was invited back for a second year. She’s now in a different city, this time teaching English to college students. 还有一个意想不到的惊喜, 她创办了一个长曲棍球俱乐部, introducing the sport to students there with a grant from the organization World Lacrosse.
回家, 香奈儿的一位脸谱网好友写道, “You amaze me with everything you get 你的self into. 就像在看冒险电影!” Chanel’s former professors would smile at that comment. At PBA they loved her enthusiasm for learning, 她对同学的体贴, and the role model she became for her peers.
She graduated summa cum laude, a member of PBA’s Frederick M. Supper Honors Program and a veteran of varsity lacrosse. Now as I celebrate her remarkable accomplishments, I also celebrate the supporters of the scholarships she received. 奖学金是巨大的,”她说。, “lifting off some of the financial weight and allowing me to devote myself to studies in such a way that opened doors for me.”
这是 奖学金的作用. 他们打开门. Observing the paths of graduates like Chanel makes me conclude that supporting college scholarships is one of the most powerful forms of philanthropy. That’s why I’m happy to invite you to the gala I mentioned earlier, 杰出女性午宴, 2月. 21岁，在拼搏体育. (见h6q.dctdsj.com/wod.) We’ll be honoring philanthropists Mary Freitas and Monika Preston, and proceeds will fund scholarships for deserving female students.
This year, six students will receive Women of Distinction 奖学金. I offer my heartfelt thanks to all of you who contribute to this fund or to other scholarships. As students graduate and begin their careers of service, their 影响 is also 你的 影响.
Dr. 黛布拉一. (Schwinn, a physician, researcher, and innovator, is president of 拼搏体育. (h6q.dctdsj.com)
