Document variety of Gilman Scholars at Kennesaw State journey the globe

KENNESAW, Ga. |
Jul 24, 2026

When computer science main Aaliyah Uchendu realized that Kennesaw State University provided an training
overseas program in Japan, she was hesitant to use resulting from prices, however her mom inspired
her to not depend herself out.

That dialog prompted Uchendu, an Honors scholar within the Keeping Sights Upward Journey Honors College, to use for a number of scholarships and by the point she boarded a airplane to Tokyo
earlier this summer time, scholarships had coated almost all her prices.

Uchendu is one in every of a file variety of KSU college students awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International
Scholarship this 12 months. The Gilman Scholarship is a prestigious award funded by the
US State Department that gives recipients as much as $5,000 to assist research or internships
overseas; solely about 20%-25% of candidates are chosen for the award. During the March
2026 utility cycle, 56 KSU college students utilized, and 10 acquired the award. Across
the total educational 12 months, 73 KSU college students utilized, and 11 college students earned scholarships
to check overseas.

The milestone displays a rising partnership between KSU’s Office of Prestigious Undergraduate Awards (OPUA) and Education Abroad , which expanded workshops and one-on-one mentoring to assist college students put together aggressive
purposes.

“We made some really important steps forward,” said Jamie Elliott, associate dean for academic affairs in the KSU Journey Honors College. “The first was to be very intentional about working with our partners in Education Abroad to provide workshops, both informational workshops and mentoring workshops for students.”

Those efforts helped college students see the Gilman Scholarship as an attainable alternative
whereas strengthening their purposes, Elliott mentioned.

For Uchendu, the expertise turned rather more than a visit overseas.

Visiting a Japanese college together with her training overseas cohort gave her a behind-the-scenes
take a look at rising applied sciences. She was particularly fascinated by a venture that used
nerve sensors to transmit hand actions from one individual to a different and by researchers
engaged on early self-driving automotive know-how.

“I got to see the behind-the-scenes look at the development process behind technologies people often take for granted,” she mentioned. “It’s nice to have that perspective because we just see the final stages and we don’t really know how they produced it.”

Honors political science scholar Sidney Agee, one other Gilman Scholar, additionally had a transformative expertise
finding out overseas in Peru.

Though she as soon as envisioned a profession in regulation, Agee mentioned her expertise in Peru shifted
her perspective. Visiting communities within the Andes and seeing the restricted entry to
assets and training ignited a want to make training extra accessible.

“I thought I wanted to go to law school and work in Congress,” she mentioned. “But it wasn’t
till I studied overseas that I spotted a ardour I did not even know I had. I spotted
that if I’m going to do one thing political, then I need to make training accessible.”

During her two weeks in Peru, Agee additionally visited Machu Picchu, one of many New Seven
Wonders of the World; the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and Universidad Nacional Mayor
de San Marcos in Lima, acknowledged because the oldest college within the Americas.

Now a Global Ambassador with the Office of Global Education, Agee is making ready a Fulbright Scholarship utility
with assist from OPUA.

Honors nursing scholar Montavian Walker, who studied within the Dominican Republic, mentioned the scholarship
allowed him to expertise healthcare past the United States.

“I wished to check overseas as a result of I knew it might expose me to a totally completely different
healthcare system and tradition,” Walker said. “The Gilman Scholarship took away a serious
monetary barrier and allowed me to give attention to studying as an alternative of worrying about how
I used to be going to afford this expertise.”

Elliott mentioned the record-setting 12 months demonstrates each the caliber of KSU college students
and the college’s rising nationwide repute.

“I feel it reveals that our college students are going to be actually aggressive on the subsequent
step of their profession, as a result of they’ve had this distinctive research overseas expertise, however
additionally the expertise of attempting one thing new, placing themselves on the market and reaching
a objective,” Elliott mentioned.

Students fascinated by making use of for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship,
which has utility deadlines yearly in October and March, ought to contact the
Office of Prestigious Undergraduate Awards at opua@kennesaw.edu. Students who’re fascinated by research overseas alternatives ought to go to the Education Abroad  web site and attend the  Education Abroad Fair held on campus each fall and spring.

– Story by Christin Senior

Photos supplied

Related Stories

A pacesetter in modern educating and studying, Kennesaw State University affords undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels to its greater than 51,000 college students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 educational schools. The college’s vibrant campus tradition, various inhabitants, robust international ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw college students from all through the nation and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral analysis establishment (R2), inserting it amongst an elite group of solely 8 p.c of U.S. schools and universities with an R1 or R2 standing. For extra data, go to kennesaw.edu.