Three students from the College of William and Mary recently won Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships for studying abroad. The scholarship program, run by the U.S. Department of State, is federally funded and awards up to $5,000 in merit-based scholarships to American undergraduate students, allowing them to pursue internships and academic studies abroad.
Thelma Kestner ’29, Nayla Bonilla-Mendez ’28 and Shannon O’Hara Wiora ’27 were all awarded the scholarship money.
Kestner is an international relations major. As a scholarship recipient, she traveled to Lithuania for the summer.
Kestner said she learned about the scholarship opportunity through the College’s Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies program. She said she believes she was best positioned to receive funding because of her background studying Russian, a language the U.S. government considers critical to national security.
“I decided on [studying] Russian not only because I’m an IR major, but because I wanted something challenging,” Kestner said. “It’s been extremely fruitful so far.”
Kestner said she engaged with Eastern European culture and history this summer through classes at European Humanities University in Lithuania.
Kestner highlighted her positive experiences at EHU.
“[The people from EHU will] always have a place in my heart as being some of the kindest people,” she said. “[They also] helped me tear down [the] stereotypical Eastern European thoughts I had about Belarus and Belarusian people.”
Kestner said she aspires to work in international diplomacy, resolving regional disputes and aiding countries that want to join the EU. She said she believes more must be done to address global violence and conflict.
“We need more diplomats who are willing to take action,” Kestner said.
Bonilla-Mendez is a public health major. She is currently studying in Chile with assistance from the Gilman scholarship. Bonilla-Mendez said she is passionate about studying community health, specifically preventative medicine.
“I really love the idea of helping people,” she said. While abroad, Bonilla-Mendez said she is interested in comparing U.S. and Chilean healthcare systems and studying Indigenous health.
“[I am going to aim to] understand the history and the policies that come [from] within Chile,” she said. Bonilla-Mendez said she hopes to return to the Fairfax County Health Department after graduating, where she was previously a public health youth ambassador.
O’Hara Wiora is a neuroscience major. She will spend her upcoming winter in Germany, thanks to Gilman funding.
“I’ve always wanted to study abroad, but I never felt like I got the chance to do it,” she said. “[When] I was introduced to the [Gilman] scholarship program, I thought it was a great opportunity.”
O’Hara Wiora said her interest in neuroscience stems from learning about brain biology and neurological diseases. While studying abroad in Germany, O’Hara Wiora said she will be conducting research on molecular imaging.
“[The Gilman program] is a great opportunity for people who feel like they [can’t study abroad] due to financial limitations,” she said. “I personally didn’t [ever] think I would be able to study abroad because it’s so expensive.”
