Annual Newsletter
Click on the below links to go directly to a specific newsletter or scroll through the newsletters chronologically.
Dear Contributors and Program Participants,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-seventh year, and with the addition of the nine students this year who were able to go abroad, 98 University of California students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, and Sweden. For up-to-date information and details on how to contribute at any time, see the Fund website at https://www.bortonscholarship.org/.
We continue our long partnership with Chris’ alma mater UCSD (we awarded 4 scholarships to UCSD students in 2023) but are excited by the greater diversity of the candidate pool achieved through our partnership with the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) as we grow the number of scholarships we seek to award. 2023 was our second year partnering with UCEAP to offer scholarships for full-year study abroad to students across the entire University of California system. The Board of Directors continues to be very pleased with the results. This partnership allows us to have a standard application and common administration of the scholarship across the entire UC system. In 2023, we awarded scholarships to students from UC campuses at Berkeley, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Irvine, and San Diego. Our scholarship application can be found on the UCEAP website and is listed here.
2023 Scholarship Recipients:
Callan Brakeman is a Linguistics major at the UC Santa Barbara. She is originally from Pasadena, CA, and is attending the University of Oslo in Norway. Callan began learning Norwegian on a whim when she was 14 years old and has dreamed of living in Norway ever since. This love for the Norwegian language inspired her to study Linguistics at UCSB, where she eventually added a Slavic emphasis and a minor in Russian. Callan writes, “I’m very interested in Norwegian culture and the linguistics of Scandinavian languages, so I’m beyond excited to take part in this study abroad program. I hope to further my studies in Linguistics, and hopefully achieve fluency in Norwegian after living in Norway for an entire year.” Callan lives in a student village and has made great friends with several other international students, with whom she has traveled to Bergen and Budapest. “My favorite experience here so far has been seeing the seasons change,” Callan writes. “Growing up in Los Angeles, that’s not something I am very used to. The fall colors are beautiful and today it properly snowed for the first time!”
Drew Shinozaki is a third-year English major at UC Berkeley studying abroad at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Drew is thrilled to immerse herself in Japan while pursuing a deeper knowledge of the field of literary translation. She hopes to closely study how cross-cultural academia affects the perception of specific literary texts. With her understanding of Western society and values, she is excited to witness first-hand how easily interpretations of literature can differ due to culture, mindset, and untranslatable nuances only truly understood in their original languages. Drew is passionate about creative writing and psychological fiction and plans to improve her understanding of Japanese while also gaining a more complex awareness of how to realistically write East-Asian narrators in her short stories. At Waseda, Drew has connected with fellow Borton Scholar Sophia Chang as well as family members she had never met before. Drew writes, “I met my family from Japan! It was a really touching experience to finally get the chance to meet my father’s side of the family. They are very kind, and I love them a lot. In Japan, young people have a coming-of-age celebration where they visit a shrine in kimono. However, since my 20th birthday has already passed, they plan to hold a coming-of-age celebration for me on my 21st birthday instead. I am very grateful and honored to have that experience next year.”
Piya Rao is a Sociology major at the UC Santa Barbara studying abroad at the University of Bologna in Italy. She has always loved languages and after studying Spanish and Latin in high school, she wanted to challenge herself with Italian. Longer term, she plans on a career where she engages daily with new populations from various walks of life, either in education or nonprofit work. Piya writes, “By throwing myself into a foreign environment where I quickly have to adapt to a new way of life and culture, I will be continuously preparing myself for my future work.” In Bologna, Piya shares a flat with students from France, Germany, Hungary, and Finland with whom she enjoys exchanging stories about each of their cultures. In addition, she writes, “I started babysitting three times a week for a 10-year-old Bolognese girl and it has been a great experience! It gives me a window into how Italian families live and provides an escape from the bustle of classes and the city.”
Katia Griffin is a third-year Chemical Engineering student at UC San Diego studying at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She grew up in Penn Valley, a rural town northwest of Lake Tahoe. Her parents volunteered for the Peace Corps in Russia before she was born, and, after her mother passed away, Katia wanted to continue her legacy of international work. During high school, she participated in a foreign exchange to South Australia for five months. She also journeyed to Croatia for a marine conservation excursion in 2021, where she was able to collect trash from the seafloor and make international friends. She is hoping to get involved in climate research while abroad in the Netherlands to further her goal of becoming a climate scientist. In Utrecht, Katia is living with ten roommates from all over the world: three other Americans, as well as Spanish, Turkish, Canadian, Irish, German, English, and French. She writes, “It has been so interesting to hear about each other’s culture, bond over being in a foreign place, and cook together.” Katia writes beautifully about her experiences abroad on her blog.
Junehee Son is a double major in Education Sciences and Political Science at UC Irvine studying at Seoul National University in South Korea. She has been dreaming of studying abroad since high school. Growing up as a missionary kid, she had the opportunity to live in many countries overseas which shaped her identity and has given her purpose in life. She aspires to start her career in education and ultimately work with UNICEF to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children in some of the world’s toughest places. Junehee looks forward to being exposed to the unique cultures, practices, and values that eventually initiated the Korean Wave through a top-quality school system that will introduce her to non-American, “uniquely Korean” views. She writes from Seoul, “I had the privilege of experiencing Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, which spans three days and stands as one of Korea's major holidays. The delectable traditional foods I savored during the Chuseok celebration left me truly astounded. It would be a formidable task to pick a favorite among all the delicious dishes, but if I were pressed to choose, it would be Songpyeon: a traditional Korean rice cake, resembling a half-moon, with an array of fillings such as red bean paste, toasted sesame seeds, and chestnuts.”
Kyle Lin is a Computer Science major at UC Riverside who is studying at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan. In 2017, Kyle participated in his city’s cultural exchange program with Toyokawa, a one-week homestay in a Japanese student’s home, which he says was one of the best weeks in his life. Even though he had never been to Japan before and didn’t speak Japanese, he felt a sense of belonging and acceptance from day one. Though he’d been exposed to other languages before, something about the Japanese phonemes and the shape of the hiragana and katakana resonated with him. At the end of the week, he left Japan with a spark of interest in its culture and language. Since then, he started learning Japanese and joined Japanese cultural clubs to learn about Japanese history, traditions, and pop culture. He is now eager to spend a full academic year in Japan to be able to truly immerse himself in and learn from the culture and customs, form deep relationships, and hopefully become fluent in the language. He was able to connect with and get advice from outgoing Borton scholar Akito Yatsugi.
Megan Hsu is an International Business major with a minor in Finance at UC San Diego studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan at Keio University. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Megan also frequently traveled to Taiwan and Japan, fostering her interest to study and work in a global setting where she can deepen her knowledge of foreign customs and lifestyles. Megan has worked as an international trade intern, and through this internship, solidified her passion for international business and helping businesses expand overseas. She strongly believes that the experiences she will gain through studying abroad will deepen her cultural awareness and understanding of global business. Since the age of three, Megan has been in contact with the Japanese language and culture. This upbringing has influenced her goal of working in Japan in the field of international business. One of Megan's hobbies is photography, and she hopes to document her journey as she travels around Japan, makes new friends, and experiences everything that Keio University has to offer. At Keio, Megan has joined the photography and aikido clubs. She writes of her early experience: “Overall, I am enjoying myself in Japan because each day is always so eventful and fun. The food is amazing, and the transportation is extremely convenient! However, there are some things that I am still struggling with. I've noticed that the classes here are much less structured than at UCSD. For example, the syllabus is extremely vague and assignment grades are never released.”
Danicka Leeds is a Human Developmental Sciences major at UC San Diego with a double minor in Spanish Linguistics and Psychology who will be studying abroad at the University of Chile. She plans to stay at a local family home upon arrival. Danicka writes of the opportunity to study abroad: “I want to gain insight into another culture and be entirely immersed in a different way of life to gain appreciation for another way of living and apply the values I’ve learned to my own life. I want to be able to redefine the narrative that travel is only possible if you’re rich and to show that a girl like me whose family comes from a line of homelessness can be able to make these dreams a reality. I want to be able to learn medical terminology in Spanish so that I can connect with Spanish-speaking patients without the use of a translator to show that I care for them and that I want to know them.” She plans to work as a phlebotomist in Chile to gain more medical terminology in Spanish and gain hospital experience.
Sophia Chang is a Biological Anthropology Major at UC San Diego studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Sophia was awarded a Borton Scholarship for 2021-22. Covid prevented her from being able to go to Japan. She tried again, unsuccessfully, the following year. Next, she took a gap year during which she became a fantastic pastry chef. Last year she re-enrolled at UCSD and applied to Waseda University where she arrived in September! Growing up in Taiwan, she experienced various aspects of Japanese culture and fell in love with Japan when she visited a few years ago. As an anthropology major, Sophia strives to learn and understand human relations and traditions within a certain location. In this case, she is interested in how Japanese culture and history have shaped Japan’s image in the modern world. She is also excited to practice Japanese which she has been learning since the beginning of freshman year. She has ice skated since she was seven years old, was an active member of the Ice-Skating Club at UCSD, and hopes that she can continue to pursue her skating career even in Japan. She looks forward to traveling to different cities throughout the changing seasons and exploring the local specialties that Japan has to offer. She believes that living in Japan will provide her with new and unique experiences that cannot be understood through a book alone. At Waseda, Sophia has made lots of friends at her dorm including exchange students from different parts of the world. She writes, “It is so interesting getting to hear their stories and learn more about their countries and cultures.” She has particularly enjoyed local festivals and shared the following vlog documenting one such event: Waseda Festival Vlog.
Updates on 2022-23 Borton Scholarship Recipients:
Valeria Gonzales Perez (Italy, 2022-23) has returned to UC San Diego and is working on a team project creating a medical empathetic chatbot about menopause in which doctors, patients, or the general public may ask about possible treatment for mitigating menopause symptoms and may learn about potential medications suitable for a patient's specific symptoms. Her team completed the regional NSF I-Corps Program and received a research grant. She writes, “Participating in this project which has a public health perspective on menopause has really opened up my mind to the many opportunities that exist in the field of med-tech and of the possibilities of educating through the use of technology.” She is also sharing her experience with students considering going abroad and is planning to make a “How to Study Abroad in Padova” guide. Valeria writes, “Thank you so much for supporting my dream of studying abroad – every time that I think about my year in Italy, a radiant joy and gratefulness surrounds me.”
Akito Yasugi (Japan, 2022-23) has returned to UC San Diego to finish his final year. His year in Japan has encouraged him to study abroad again before graduating. He writes: “I am going to Taiwan for one semester! I am very excited to embark, once again, on a new journey abroad and look forward to the many opportunities that await.”
Brianna Angulo (France, 2022-23) recommends a full year abroad to other students. Studying abroad, she writes, “offers unparalleled personal and academic growth, broadens horizons, and fosters cross-cultural understanding. While a semester-long program can be transformative, I strongly recommend a full year abroad. A longer duration allows for deeper immersion in the local culture, an opportunity to travel extensively, and establish meaningful connections.” Her year abroad has reinforced and refined her career plans. She writes, “Witnessing the power of effective communication and cultural understanding, I am now more determined than ever to pursue a career in diplomacy, where I can bridge gaps and foster collaboration on a global scale.”
Tzipporah Moehringer (Spain, 2022-23) has transferred from UC Santa Barbara to UC Los Angeles. She writes that attending three universities in three years has shaped her resilience and confidence, and she looks forward to continuing her education as a Spanish major on the pre-dental track. She writes, “I will continue to implement the Spanish-speaking skills I worked so hard to improve over my year abroad, and I feel like I have a far better view of my goals for the future after returning from Spain. My dream to pursue a career in dentistry remains steadfast, and I aspire to provide dental care for underserved Spanish-speaking communities after graduation. I hope to be able to return to Spain someday soon; I know that a piece of my heart will always remain in Madrid.”
Milan Au (South Korea, 2022-23) is continuing his UCEAP studies on another year-long program at Peking University (PKU) in China for 2023-24. He writes,“While I miss the UCR campus dearly, I am certain that my goals can be furthered abroad, namely: improving my Chinese and understanding of China. This is my first time in China, so I got the opportunity to visit relatives I have never met, explore the culture (that I have been learning about within textbooks since high school), and immerse myself in Chinese.” At PKU, Milan organizes events for the Association of Sino-US Exchange, where they share different cultures to forge new friendships between local and international students. He writes that “being abroad has intrigued me with the idea of a career in East Asian Pacific Affairs, specifically in International Trade.”
Ashley Lopez (South Korea, 2022-23) reflected on the challenges of studying abroad and how they accelerate self-knowledge. She writes, “I traveled to South Korea before my study abroad exchange program, resulting in my thinking only about the positives and the unforgettable moments I would make during the year. Because of this, I was a little naive and did not think I would face any big challenges. I knew the language, I lived here for three months before, and I had learned a lot of social and cultural rules to assimilate myself well. However, that was not the case. Living here for three months versus a year is completely different and makes you learn who you are.”
Duy Nguyen (South Korea, 2022-23) returned from South Korea with an appreciation for the profound ways his time abroad changed him. He writes, “Each experience has left an indelible impact on my worldview, shaping me into a more empathetic, open-minded, and culturally aware individual. As I reflect on my time in South Korea, I am reminded of the beauty and significance of embracing diverse cultures and traditions. South Korea will forever hold a special place in my heart as the backdrop for my personal transformation.”
Ragini Krishnaswami (South Korea, 2022-23) returned from South Korea with a growing sense of independence and adaptability. She writes, “I learned that I was capable of taking care of myself. Also, that I was more independent than I thought. Before this trip, I had underestimated myself. This experience staying in a completely different country, which had a totally different culture and lifestyle from what I was used to, taught me that I was capable of adapting to a whole new environment.”
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Daniela Mendoza (Italy, 2021-22) graduated from UCSD in December of last year and has begun a graduate program in International Marketing and Brand Management at Lund University in Sweden. She writes, “I feel so incredibly grateful to be here and although my program is quite rigorous, I know I will have grown so much from where I began and further develop what I want my future career to be. I had never been to Sweden before, but it truly is just as beautiful as they say. Lund is a charming town and a hub for international students as well. I have met such incredible people from all walks of life, and I can't wait to build even more connections.”
Rebecca Brambila (Italy, 2021-22) graduated from UCSD in the Spring and got a job as a flight attendant with United Airlines. She is now an Italian-speaking flight attendant based in Denver, CO. Rebecca writes, “I am very excited and happy to be able to get paid to travel the world. Life has been very exciting, and I can't imagine where I would be today if I hadn't decided to study abroad in Italy two years ago.”
Tammy Mok (Japan, 2019-20) is living in Seattle and works for Meta. She has enjoyed exploring the outdoors through cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, backpacking, and enjoying the surrounding mountain views. Tammy has also slowly been learning French, with the goal of being somewhat conversational next year. She writes, “It definitely holds a different set of challenges than Japanese but has been enjoyable regardless.”
Alex Slone (Czech Republic, 2018-19) spent his first three years out of UC San Diego at a large educational technology company called Coursera before taking a year to travel and live in Southeast Asia. He writes, “The first half of the year was spent traveling and in the second half I was living in Thailand and teaching myself how to code and exploring business ideas.”
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) is working for the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Veterans' Affairs as a Neuroscience Research Associate. The research is focused on how post-traumatic stress influences brain and behavior. He writes that “the broadened perspective I gained from living abroad has developed into a really important soft skill I use on the job. Meeting so many people from around the world gave me a special appreciation of the understanding that everyone has their own unique context, or background story. This understanding translates into my approach for the clinical interviews I administer when we fly our veteran participants in from around the country to participate in our research.”
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) is finishing her first year at Legal Services of Northern California as a staff attorney. She works with low-income individuals and seniors obtaining and maintaining housing and access to public benefits. She writes, “The best parts of my work are my colleagues and my clients. The global perspective that study abroad provided impacts my work every day.”
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) is a 5th-grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She got married in July 2023, and she and her husband took their honeymoon in Italy. She writes, “It was amazing to be back where I studied abroad! Last, but not least, my husband and I just bought a house in Lakewood. We are looking forward to our next chapter as a married couple!”
Sunny Young (the Netherlands, 2014-15) is living abroad in Melbourne, Australia working as a speech therapist. She writes, “I arrived here about 4 months ago, in the dead of winter, from Hawaii, so it was a rough adjustment but now that it's getting warmer and I'm getting settled, it's been a lot of fun living in a new country. Melbourne has a very European feel to it with its trams, trains, and little shops and cafes. I anticipate being here for the next two years, and then I'll see where life takes me next!”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2010-11) continues to work in transportation on projects that help increase mobility options other than driving. Her exposure to making transportation connections more seamless was first inspired by living in Copenhagen and being able to seamlessly travel from home to school via bike, train, and walking (having grown up in the infamous traffic capital of the world, Los Angeles, this was especially eye-opening). She also enjoyed seeing and visiting with part of her host family on a trip to South Carolina last year.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) continues to work in education as Assistant Head of Lower School at an independent school in the Bay Area. He recently defended his PhD dissertation, entitled “Toward a Praxis of Culturally Proactive Family-School-Community Partnerships: Implications on Teacher Education and Development in Independent Schools." He writes, “Global citizenship, which is what we all were gifted and what we earned from being Borton Scholars, is more important than ever to young people and schools. We must reshape this ideal from buzzword to way of thinking. As I reflect on this, I fully recognize that my personal capacity for being able to add my push to moving this mountain comes from being a Borton Scholar. It’s humbling to be part of the nearly 100 scholarship recipients, and it’s inspiring to know that the program continues to help shape the education and career paths of globally minded young people.”
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) moved back to the Washington, D.C. area with her husband Amaury and one-year-old son Milo earlier this year after spending two years in Morocco. She loves her job as a research specialist at the Department of State where she analyzes travel fraud trends with a focus on the Sub-Saharan African region.
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is living in San Francisco and working in the tech industry (Intuit, LegalZoom) mostly as a field researcher studying small business owners. He writes, “My days most recently have been filled with a lot of long-distance endurance cycling around the Bay Area, as well as going to House Music dance festivals and shows — so if any scholars want some recommendations on either, let me know! In terms of travel, I finally checked off a bucket list item and went to Japan for two weeks this past summer, spending time in Tokyo and Osaka, and hiking a chunk of the Kumano Kodo trail with my younger brother and friends.”
Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) is living in Singapore and working for TikTok. A few years back, he chose a business school program based on its reputation for international diversity. He writes, “Since joining TikTok, I've picked up basic Mandarin, then hired and grown teams across the United States, China, Singapore, London, and Canada.” Jonathan relocated to Singapore, where his best friends from business school reside. He writes, “The best things in my life occurred thanks to my decisions to opt into circumstances affording global exposure. I believe that my propensity toward seeking such exposure blossomed thanks to the great time I had studying abroad back in 2003, thanks to programs like the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship.”
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) transitioned from representing kids in foster care to a job with the California Department of Social Services. She now works in the Community Care Licensing Division helping ensure DSS meets its obligations to youth in foster care, adults with disabilities, and seniors. She also volunteers with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) using her legal skills to support Israel and combat rising antisemitism worldwide. She writes, “I still speak Spanish every opportunity I get.”
Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) continues to practice law in Irvine, running the corporate law practice group at his law firm, Rutan & Tucker. He has been involved with the International Bar Association for the past decade and is the current Vice Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee. The Association recently completed its annual conference in Paris, and Shige had the opportunity to meet and connect with international colleagues. He writes, “These connections are crucial to my work, as I represent clients across the world in cross-border legal transactions. My study abroad experience continues to have an impact on my worldview and interest in meeting and creating new connections with people around the world. My wife and I have a 13-year-old daughter, and she is now looking towards studying abroad in college!”
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) and his family moved back to the Denver Area, where he is the rector of a parish in Arvada, and also continues to teach online for the Seminary in Berkeley, and both online and in person for Iliff School of Theology at the University of Denver. He is working on editing the manuscript that he has used academically for his courses for the past six years in hopes of getting it published. He writes, “I think of my time in Scotland often and fondly. It’s been six years since my last trip, and I’m hoping the next trip can include the kids and Jane!”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors and Program Participants,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-sixth year, and with the addition of the eight students this year who were able to go abroad, 89 University of California students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, and Sweden. For up-to-date information and details on how to contribute at any time, see the Fund website at https://www.bortonscholarship.org.
2022 was our first year partnering with the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) to offer scholarships for full-year study abroad to students across the entire University of California system. The Board of Directors is very pleased with the results thus far. This partnership allows us to have a standard application and common administration of the scholarship across the entire UC system. In 2022, we awarded scholarships to students from UC campuses at Davis, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Our scholarship application can be found here on the UCEAP site and is listed here. We continue our long partnership with Chris’ alma mater UCSD (we awarded 4 scholarships to UCSD students in 2022) but are excited to bring greater diversity to the candidate pool through our partnership with UCEAP as we grow the number of scholarships we seek to award.
2022 Scholarship Recipients:
Milan Au is a Business Administration major at UC Riverside studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea for the 2022-23 academic year. Milan grew up in Rosemead, California. While in high school, his Chinese and English teachers instilled in him a love for language learning. He hopes to improve his Korean language skills and learn more about Korea’s Esports culture during this year abroad in Korea. Previously, he volunteered at an insurance/tax office for 10 months, where he helped immigrants obtain green cards. He is keen on helping Esports athletes with their visas and green cards in the future, and he hopes to help ensure that immigrants get the resources they need. Although he plans to explore Korea during his year abroad, his long-term goal is to explore the whole world! He loves to learn about different cultures and enjoys challenging himself in new environments. After studying in South Korea, Milan plans to study abroad in China to achieve fluency in Mandarin.
Valeria Gonzales Perez is a Machine Learning and Cognitive Science major at UCSD studying abroad at the University of Padua (Padova in Italian) in Italy for the 2022-23 academic year. She writes, “When I first read that I had been awarded this scholarship, my dreams of studying abroad in an institution that cultivates a rich understanding of cognitive science and Italy’s culture seemed closer than ever before. It reassured me that my dreams are possible.” Before traveling to Padova, Valeria was able to visit Venice and enjoyed learning about the city’s unique history (e.g. only Venice natives are allowed to be “gondoleros”). At Padova, she has met students from Costa Rica, Pakistan, India, China, Norway, Croatia, Ukraine, Spain, Guatemala, Argentina, France, and many from Germany. She reports, “Overall, I’ve had an experience full of excitement, wonder, and learning in this beautiful city.”
Akito Yatsugi is a UCSD International Business major studying at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan for the 2022-23 academic school year. Akito is a native of San Diego, California where his parents are heavily involved in the local Japanese community. Through interactions with students from Japan and their parents, Akito gained a passion for learning about Japanese culture and language. During his year abroad, Akito plans on fully immersing himself in the Japanese culture by joining student circles as well as actively participating in both school and social events. He reports that, “Classes are interesting and in particular, I find my interpretation class exciting, as it is challenging yet fun.” He was surprised to find that many students at the university speak English well, as many of them have spent time living abroad. In his free time, Akito enjoys surfing, watching baseball, and exploring foods from different countries. He plans to travel to many cities in Japan to eat food items that he has not tried before.
Brianna Angulo is a student at UCSD majoring in Political Science-International Relations and minoring in human rights migration and is studying at Sciences Po in Paris, France for the 2022-23 academic school year. She will graduate from UCSD in June 2023 and plans on attending graduate school to learn more about international relations and immigration policy. Brianna writes, “As a young Latina born and raised in Downey, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles, it is crucial for me to fully immerse myself in my culture and learn more about my family’s journey immigrating from Mexico to the United States. Listening to my grandparents’ immigration stories motivates me to aid fellow immigrants and seek justice for them.” She wants to do further research to understand the immigrant experience and address the current humanitarian crisis. She believes her year abroad in Paris will help her study the importance of political participation, gain a deeper understanding of global issues, and experience cultural immersion. Brianna reports that her classes are very exciting and what has struck her most “is the passion and ambition of the students. It is very motivating and pushes me to do my best.”
Ashley Lopez is an International Relations major at UC Davis, studying abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea for the 2022-23 academic school year. She is a first-generation student from Los Angeles. She has been studying Korean since her senior year of high school and has loved every challenge of learning a new language and culture. Studying Korean has made Ashley more involved in learning about cultures and aspects of society that are different from her own. She is excited to finally attend her dream University at Yonsei, a dream that was stalled by the pandemic. After graduation, Ashley hopes to pursue a Korean Language degree and continue higher education in International Relations. She enjoys cafe hopping and going around the city to take photos in her free time. While in Korea, Ashley writes that she “aims to fully immerse herself in the culture and its people to get the most out of her time in Korea.”
Duy Nguyen is an International Studies-Political Science major at UCSD studying abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea for the 2022-23 academic year. Born and raised in Orange County, California, Duy was exposed to a diversity of cultures throughout his youth, especially the Korean community in Garden Grove. These early experiences motivated him to pursue International Studies and Political Science at UCSD, while specializing in Japanese and Korean Studies as his minors. Duy believes his experience abroad will allow him to unlock a new understanding of international politics from South Korea's perspective, as well as gain a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Korean culture. Duy is the first in his family to attend a four-year college and hopes to pursue a doctorate in international politics in order to teach other college students. Duy was a research assistant under Ph.D. candidate Patrick Hulme at the UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy, whose work consists of analyzing Congressional sentiments on the use of military force and the presidential authority to do so across a wide range of U.S. foreign conflicts. Duy helped to analyze these Congressional sentiments and has researched conflicts ranging from the Korean War to the current conflict in Ukraine. In his free time, Duy enjoys working out, watching sports, and eating spicy food. Whether engrossed in his studies, wandering around the campus at Yonsei University or catching a baseball game at Jamsil Stadium, Duy is excited to study abroad in South Korea.
Ragini Krishnaswami is a Korean major at UCLA studying abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korean for the 2022-23 academic year. Her interest in Korean language and culture was piqued in her senior year of high school. Ragini has been exposed to multiple languages from a very young age; three of which are Indian languages. She explored her interest by learning other foreign languages, but she was most captivated by Korean. She made Korean her major at UCLA and found she was even more interested in learning about the culture and lifestyle in Korea, right at the source. By learning multiple languages, Ragini hopes to “connect the world and create new bonds through communication.” She has connected with several other Borton Scholars in Yonsei since arriving. She writes, “One of my classes is a cinema class, and my friends and I are planning to travel to Busan for the Busan International Film Festival. I can't wait to explore more of this country and experience the culture firsthand!” Ragini believes that her year abroad in Korea will not only give her the opportunity to learn the language she loves but also a chance to grow into a citizen of the world.
Tzipporah Moehringer is a Biopsychology and Spanish double major from UC Santa Barbara who is studying abroad at Complutense University of Madrid for the 2022-23 academic year. Tzipporah grew up in San Diego, California and is eager to exchange the familiar setting of a beach town for the bustling, historic city and its completely different culture and way of life. Tzipporah’s first experience with Spanish in middle school made her passionate about learning the language. She looks forward to returning home from a year abroad not only fluent, but confident in her knowledge of the language and culture. Tzipporah is determined to pursue a career in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and work with Doctors Without Borders, performing cleft palate surgeries on patients in underrepresented Latin American countries. Tzipporah writes, “after my formal education is complete, I plan to establish a private practice in San Diego (where there is a large Hispanic population), so it will be important for me to be able to speak fluently with my Spanish-speaking patients in their native language.” Before traveling to Madrid, Tzipporah was able to connect with recent Borton Scholar Jonathan Sarabia, who gave her tips that helped her immensely with traveling and settling in. During her stay in Madrid, Tzipporah is excited to immerse herself in Spanish culture, build friendships with people she would not have otherwise met, and transform herself into a stronger, more independent young adult.
Updates on 2021-22 Borton Scholarship Recipients:
Rebeca Brambila (Italy, 2021-22) has returned to UCSD to finish her final year. She recently got a job at the UCSD Study Abroad office as a Global Educator and writes, “I love working here so far, encouraging students to study abroad, and working with great people in the office.” She has an apartment with a friend who studied abroad with her in Bologna and is also a senior studying International Business. She regularly sees fellow Borton Scholar Daniela Mendoza, who lives in the same apartment complex. Rebeca is trying to enjoy her final year of undergrad and get involved as much as possible. She just joined a Christian club on campus called Cru, and she tries to attend as many UCSD sports games as she can.
Daniela Mendoza (Italy, 2021-22) has returned to UCSD. She writes of her time in Italy that she is grateful for “the people I have shared these unforgettable experiences with, and that somehow I have managed to travel to eleven countries all within one year. I have all these memories and beautiful snapshots I have captured in my brain and have saved for a rainy day.”
Sophia Garrido (UK, 2021-22) has graduated and is pursuing a Masters degree in Diplomacy and Military Studies at Hawaii Pacific University. She has also received a soccer scholarship to play for the university’s team. During her time abroad she was able to travel all over Europe including Normandy, Athens, Paris, Florence, Rome, Germany (Berlin, Munich, and Nuremburg), Luxembourg, and Belgium.
Shellsea de Leon (France, 2021-22) returned to UCSD. She remembers fondly the culture shock she felt in Paris: “Simple things like crossing the street irrespective of whether or not the light is red to learning and experiencing that French people are more likely to be closed off to strangers.”
Jonathan Sarabia (Spain, 2021-22) has graduated from UCSD and is living in San Francisco. He writes, “Returning back to the States has been a mixed bag for me. I love being able to see my family and friends, but I miss the fantastic transportation system in Madrid. I miss just seeing the everyday people and culture.” Jonathan is looking into opportunities to return to Madrid to teach English.
Sophia Chang, who was chosen for a 2021-22 Borton scholarship and initially deferred, was forced to cancel her plans to study abroad in Japan again due to travel restrictions.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Megumi Kawamura (Japan, 2018-19) spent the summer traveling throughout Europe with two friends, working remotely during the entire trip. She writes, “It's actually fairly easy to work US hours in Europe because you can spend the whole day exploring and then work from 4pm - midnight. We covered a lot of ground, moving to a new city every 3-5 days. We went to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Portugal, South of France, Italy (Rome, Amalfi Coast, Florence, Genoa, Venice, Bologna, Milan), and Barcelona.” Megumi continues to work at the COVID testing company, Curative, moving this year from Customer Success to Communications. She is back in the Bay Area for the time being but hopes to either move back to San Diego or to New York in 2023.
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) has moved back to San Diego after completing the in-person portion of his Masters degree at Washington University in St. Louis. He successfully defended his thesis over the summer on preliminary data, and data collection is still ongoing for future publication. He is currently substitute teaching around the county while applying for a long-term position. Gio writes, “I’m hoping to land work in research support (hopefully at UCSD) as a research associate or research analyst. Fingers crossed!”
Emily Yeh (Japan, 2016-17) has returned to the US from Japan and is doing an MBA at Yale. She writes, “I decided to come to Yale for its unique focus on social impact and sustainability and my experience thus far has more than justified my decision. While people are looking to enter different industries, everyone has social impact and sustainability in mind and hopes to strike a balance between business and society.” Emily serves on the Sustainability Committee and the Tech and Society Committee at the Yale School of Management (SOM). She hopes to make Yale SOM’s food practices more sustainable, as well as bring to people’s attention the positive and negative impact of technology on humans. She writes, “I believe I have really grown roots in Japan during the past 5 years, and I plan on moving back to Tokyo again in 4-5 years or so.”
Sophie Osborn (Japan, 2016-17) is working in Washington DC for the Environmental Defense Fund as a Legislative Analyst. In her new role, she coordinates EDF's engagement in the Congressional appropriations process that sets the federal budget. She writes, “I'm learning a lot about clean energy policy and environmental justice!”
Justin Lim (South Korea, 2016-17) continues to work in a lab at MIT. He plans to stay in the role for another year before looking for a job at a biotech company.
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law in May. She is currently working at a legal services non-profit assisting low-income individuals and senior citizens access and maintain housing and public benefits. Her goal is to continue pursuing a career in civil rights and address the systemic issues marginalized communities face. She writes, “I am grateful every day for my time in Berlin. Just yesterday my colleague asked me about my study abroad experience as his daughter, who just started at UC Irvine, is considering studying abroad. I raved about UCEAP and how doable study abroad is especially with wonderful scholarships like the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship.”
Daniel Lee (Japan, 2015-16) is living in the Bay Area and active with an anime/video game orchestra again, resuming rehearsals and holding concerts. He has decided to take a break from work to spend more time with family and friends and travel with his family. He writes, “Now that Japan is open to travelers, I plan on visiting in the near future, to meet the friends I've made there and do more traveling.”
Austin Pukasamsombut (Japan, 2014-15) is currently living in Orange County, working for a video game development company called Cryptic Studios. He writes, “It has been a long time since my experience studying abroad, but it still has impacted me greatly in giving me the confidence and motivation to continue in pursuing my passions.” He enjoys working in video games, and spends every day expanding his expertise in the field. He also continues to keep in contact with “many of the great friends that I met while studying abroad, and they still remain an indispensable part of my life. We all plan to go visit Japan again together soon.”
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) is living in Sacramento working as a high school Spanish teacher. She reports that distance learning was terrible for the students, and she is still seeing the effects. She writes, “The kids are so behind academically, they have no patience, they are more immature and disrespectful than before, they are constantly on their phones and distracted on the computer (all students have a laptop now), and when things get tough, they are just throwing in the towel. Not all of them of course, but as a general trend.” She spent six weeks over the summer backpacking in Mexico, visiting Sayulita, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, La Huasteca Potosina, CDMX, Oaxaca, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Palqunque, Bacalar, and Cancún. Tamar has applied for a Fulbright Scholarship to work as an English Teaching Assistant in Brazil for the 2024 school year. She writes, “I won't find out until June if I am accepted, but I'm excited by the chance to move there and finally polish up my Portuguese!”
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) recently switched over from Stanford's adult oncology department to the post-partum maternity department at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital side of Stanford. She writes, “It has been a refreshing experience to learn about maternal and neonatal health and fun to work with adorable newborns, some smaller than the size of my seven-pound Chihuahua.” She is fascinated by the world of breastfeeding and amazed by what the human body is capable of, including how mothers automatically produce antibodies which are transferred to the baby through the breast milk to ward off infections. Yoshie is planning to study to receive a certification in lactation consultation soon.
Hannah Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) has two children and is teaching Spanish. She writes, “Sebastian is almost three and acting like he's thirteen, Josephine is seven months old and just starting to scoot around (mostly backwards still). I'm still teaching Spanish at the same school, but only three days a week so I can care for the kids the other two days. It's a pretty sweet balance and I'm very grateful that it was an option for us this year.”
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is Assistant Head of Lower School and Curriculum Coordinator at Keys School in Palo Alto. Recently, he presented a professional development session for all faculty around supporting emergent bilingual learners in a culturally-responsive manner, an area of passion sparked and made possible by his time abroad. Outside of lower school and doctor school (one more year, fingers crossed), Kipp has been fostering a rescue cat named Mushu.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) and her husband Amaury welcomed their son Milo Sebastian to the world in April and then moved to Casablanca, Morocco where they both work for the U.S. State Department. Nicola loves speaking French daily after studying abroad in France 15 years ago!
Alice Wagner Robertson (Scotland, 2004-05) writes, “When I started my study abroad year in Scotland, I quickly noticed how the people in the community and at the University of Edinburgh all had different ways of speaking English. For a few months, I felt timid and less confident in my surroundings. Perhaps due to my musically trained ears, I unintentionally adapted my accent to the point that one of my roommates forgot I was an American! Since this experience I have become increasingly interested in how people express themselves verbally, and how language and accent can create both community and disparate identities. I hope to someday apply this understanding to build bridges between conflicting communities in the United States. Maybe someday I'll get a Ph.D., but for now I'm raising 2 kids alongside a supportive husband.”
Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) is heading a Product team at TikTok, having just crossed two years at the company. He writes, “It seems like a lifetime ago that I was abroad in Japan, yet that year still rings clearly as the best of my life. I grew more in that year than in any other, and my appreciation of that opportunity has in fact inspired me to request a year-long assignment abroad to Singapore, from where I am sending this update. So as always, I cannot overemphasize how important prolonged exposure to other cultures can be to a person's outlook and life. For students who are living abroad or alone for the first time, the first few months before and during can seem daunting—but take it from me: opportunities like these do not come easily, and some may never come again. Congratulations to everyone who has taken this leap.”
Brian Israel (England, 2003-04) recently joined the Anthropic, a San Francisco-based Public Benefit Corporation working on the safety of artificial intelligence systems, as General Counsel, after serving for two years as NASA's Associate General Counsel for International Law. He writes, “13 years after we moved to DC ‘for a few years,’ we're hoping to move home to the Bay Area this summer.”
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) recently changed jobs and is now working for the California Department of Social Services in their community care licensing division. She writes, “I like it so far!”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors and Program Participants,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-fifth year, and with the addition of the five students this year who were able to go abroad, 81 UC San Diego and UC Davis students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, and Sweden.
During 2021 the Board of Directors explored the best way to expand the pool of eligible scholarship candidates without creating undue administrative burden for our volunteer organization. We are excited to announce that we will be partnering with the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) to offer scholarships for full-year study abroad to students across the University of California system beginning in fall 2022. Our scholarship application can be found here on the UCEAP site and will be listed here starting in 2022. This partnership will allow us to have a standard application and common administration of the scholarship across the entire UC system. We will continue our long direct partnership with Chris’ alma mater UCSD, but are very excited to broaden out the candidate pool as both the size of the scholarship endowment and the number of scholarships we seek to award has grown. We will target up to eight scholarships for 2022 and will maintain the flexibility to award more based on the candidate pool.
2021 Scholarship Recipients:
Daniela Mendoza is an International Business major at UCSD studying abroad in Bologna, Italy for a full academic year. Daniela fell in love with the Italian language and culture on a trip to Europe in 2018 and has completed the Italian language sequence at UCSD. In her free time, she enjoys eating good foods, watching the sunset, reading books, going for long walks, and listening to music. Much of what she reads and listens to is either in Italian or Spanish. Daniela finds that “learning a language is not always just learning how to speak it, but also listening to it and reading it can help to train your mind to using it more often.” She loves the beautiful buildings where lectures are held at the University of Bologna and writes that there are “classrooms all over the city and even though it can be stressful to go from one class to the other, it allows you to explore the city even more.”
Rebeca Brambila is a first generation Mexican-American college student majoring in International Business and minoring in Real Estate and Development at UCSD. Both of her parents are from Mexico, but her great-grandfather was from Italy, where she is studying at the University of Bologna this year. In order to finance her study abroad, she juggled working part-time while being a full-time student. Rebeca writes that “this scholarship has made going abroad not only possible, but my reality. I cannot thank this organization enough for this amazing financial contribution that will allow me to fulfill my dream of going abroad.” Rebeca plans to immerse herself into the Italian culture, make connections with diverse people from different cultures, and take on an internship in Urban Planning. Thus far, she has made a lot of new friends in Italy, many from different countries around Europe, like Lithuania, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Poland. In January she will be moving into an apartment with two roommates, including fellow Borton Scholar Daniela Mendoza!
Neil Dudheker is a Biology major at UCSD studying abroad at University College London for the 2021-22 academic year. He was born and raised in Southern California. Neil believes his experience abroad will allow him to pursue unique connections pertaining to his field of study while also receiving a high-quality education at a competitive university. With the goal of becoming a successful cardiologist in the future, Neil values the opportunity to network with new people and become a more well-rounded individual. He believes that the defining quality of an excellent physician is their ability to connect with their patients, and he hopes that his experience in a diverse city like London will help him develop his ability to connect and communicate with a variety of people. He has found a solid group of mostly British friends who are introducing him to London. Neil writes, “They’ve taken me to Nando’s, which they claim is a cultural necessity. And we spend a little too much time arguing about the correct way to spell and pronounce most words. But overall, they are responsible for making my study abroad experience so special.”
Sophia Garrido is a Communications major at UCSD studying abroad at Royal Holloway in the United Kingdom for the 2021-22 academic year. Sophia was born and raised in Orange County, California and is very passionate about studying different cultures and communities. She loves learning about how media, politics, history, and society all work together to create a culture’s values. At UCSD, she is a member of the sorority Pi Beta Phi, and the UCSD Women’s soccer team. Sophia wants to “challenge herself to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.” In addition to her course work, she is playing competitive soccer. Sophia reports that, “Already, my time abroad has helped me narrow down the path I want to take for my future. It has shown me my passion for international relations so much so to the point where I decided to apply for a summer internship with the U.S. State Department. There is an embassy in Italy that works on promoting religious freedom, as well as an office in Washington DC which does the same. I’ve applied to both, so fingers crossed!”
Shellsea de Leon is a Political Science major at UCSD studying abroad at Sciences Po in Paris, France. She has been studying French since her first year of high school and has loved every second of it. Shellsea is the first in her family to go to college and she wishes to make her academic career the best it can be to make her family proud. After graduation, Shellsea hopes to pursue a law degree and work as a lawyer or in a government agency like the Environmental Protection Agency. She writes, “In my class on climate change it has been very insightful to have conversations on the Paris Accord, but also on COP26 and how countries determine who is the most responsible for carbon emissions and pollution.” In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, hiking, or singing with her dad. While in France, she aims to fully immerse herself in the culture and its people and practice her French in order to become fluent. Shellsea writes that her comprehension of the French language has increased significantly. “I remember when I first came to France and I was absolutely confused as to what everything meant, even though I had years of learning the language. I think, however, thanks to my engagement and pursuit of taking French classes, it gave me an amazing opportunity to get more involved in the culture.”
Sophia Chang was selected to receive a Borton Scholarship but has been forced to delay her year abroad in Japan to the next academic year due to pandemic travel restrictions. We look forward to reporting on her experience in next year’s newsletter.
Updates on 2020-21 Borton Scholarship Recipients:
Jonathan Sarabia (Spain, 2021-22) is a business psychology major and a senior currently studying at Nebrija University in Madrid, Spain. Despite the pandemic canceling his plans to go abroad last year, he was determined to embark on the journey and did not give up applying. Jonathan grew up in San Francisco and his year abroad in Madrid is his first time leaving the country. Jonathan writes, “I am half Mexican and half Chinese, but I have always felt disconnected from my Mexican identity because I could not speak Spanish. Although I do not believe that language ultimately defines one’s race or ethnicity, I do believe it is powerful in connecting people with each other.” Although Jonathan had studied Spanish at UC San Diego, studying abroad in Spain has enabled him to fully immerse himself in Spanish culture. Not only is he continuing to study Spanish at his university, but his choice of a homestay option has enabled him to integrate his daily life with the language by living with a Spanish host family. Jonathan has loved his time so far in Madrid as it’s given him opportunities to connect with new people and develop his cultural intelligence. What he has valued most about being in a foreign country is the amount of self-growth he has seen in himself.
Matthew Zane (Japan, 2021-22) has had to defer his study at the University of Waseda multiple times due to travel restrictions. He completed his first semester at Waseda remotely, is currently back studying at UCSD, and is awaiting word on whether he will be able to go abroad to Waseda in Spring 2022. UCEAP is expected to make a final decision to move forward with the program by December. Matthew writes, “Despite not being in the country, my Japanese improved greatly. I took a class with only 5 other students so I was forced to speak and practice a lot. After many embarrassing moments, I feel much more confident in my fluency.”
Three other selectees from the 2020-21 cohort - Carlo Francisco, Michaela Schwartz, and Sage Gregory - were forced to abandon plans to study abroad due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and were unable to defer their plans to the current year.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Moa Smith (Sweden, 2019-20) is finishing her degree at UC Davis and became a supervisor with the Aggie Host Student Security Officer program. She will be participating in the UC Davis Police Department Cadets program this winter/spring and expects to graduate in June. After graduating, she plans to eventually apply to a police academy and enter law enforcement.
Minna Luu (France, 2019-20) completed her senior year from her home in San Jose and graduated from UC Davis in Winter Quarter 2020. She went to work as an Administrative Assistant at a corporate immigration law firm, learned a lot about the immigration process, and gained new insight from the lawyers she worked with. She decided against law school and took another job as an Asset Management Administrator at a nonprofit organization called BRIDGE that builds and helps house low-income families. Ultimately, she would like to go to graduate school.
Kayla Erler (United Kingdom, 2019-20) is pursuing a PhD at UCSD and has received several grant fellowships that will provide funding for the next four years. Her research is focused on seismic design, attempting to develop a method of eliminating one of the steps in the testing process for bearing isolators. Her horse is growing quickly and settled at a barn in San Diego that will be her new home for the next five years. Kayla is headed to France for spring break to connect with one of her good friends whom she met during her year abroad in London.
Tammy Mok (Japan, 2019-20) will be graduating from UCSD in December. She plans to backpack around Europe in early 2022 with some fellow Tohoku exchange students, before moving to Seattle to start a job in April. Tammy has maintained a reading language exchange with a student she met in Japan, progressing to more complicated novels and increasing her reading abilities quite a bit. She started another language exchange with a fellow student involving a video call every week to practice conversational skills, and it's been a great way to maintain Japanese speaking fluency.
Isabella Silva (Japan, 2018-19) is living in South Korea where she is an English teacher to children between the ages of four and twelve years old. Reflecting on her first year in the role, Isabella writes that she “had a new sense of confidence in myself learning not only from my coworkers but from my students as well.” She hopes to continue teaching in Korea for one more year then travel back to Japan to teach there for a time.
Megumi Kawamura (Japan, 2018-19) continues to work at Curative as a Customer Success Supervisor. Curative was involved in vaccine administration and Covid-testing. Most recently, the company is providing rapid PCR testing which gives patients PCR results within a few hours. In August, she moved back to San Diego and moving to Japan in the future is still on her radar.
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) is currently attending graduate school at the University of Missouri, St. Louis in a Master’s program in Behavioral Neuroscience. He has had to adjust and readjust his experiment a few times to accommodate Covid-19 restrictions but has been able to move the project online. He will be testing working memory in high/low intensity Instagram users after taking and posting a selfie online. Gio writes, “I have a hunch that users who are heavily invested in Instagram may have a difficult time concentrating on a task after having posted a selfie! The fact that more attention is being drawn to the mental health ramifications of social media use is indeed very timely. As a researcher it is nice to receive validation that your investigation is important and may have real-world impacts on people's lives.”
Sophie Osborn (Japan, 2016-17) is working with the United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the largest unions in the U.S. She became interested in labor issues while completing her senior thesis at UCSD, and increasingly felt drawn to work in domestic policy. She works with the UAW's Legislative Department advancing working families' interests in Congress. Sophie writes, “Occasionally I am pulled in to help with meetings our International Department has with our Japanese counterpart union, and that has been an excellent opportunity to keep my language skills fresh!”
Justin Lim (South Korea, 2016-17) is applying to graduate schools. The application process has given him an opportunity to reflect on his educational experiences, with his time in South Korea being a highlight. Justin writes, “It seems that the years since studying abroad have only confirmed what an important journey it was, though it is difficult to describe the scope of its impact. I didn't end up changing career trajectories or discovering a new passion but spending time in a completely new environment with a diverse group of people was transformative.” He is currently working at MIT with research interests in structural biology and computer science.
Sunny Young (The Netherlands, 2014-15) graduated from a Master's program in speech-language pathology at Cal State Fullerton and moved back to San Diego. She currently works as a speech therapist at a private practice, primarily with children. She continues to keep in touch with her Dutch "cousins" (cousins of her cousin). She discovered them through her study abroad experience and writes, “we've been close ever since! Connecting with my cousins was the best part of my study abroad.”
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14) began a position as an International Trade Specialist with the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration. In the Office of Digital Services Industries, she covers digital services policy for Europe and Latin America, tracking technology regulation emerging from those regions and monitoring how it impacts the U.S. technology industry. She writes, “One of the coolest moments yet was the chance to meet the Secretary of Commerce in person and help prepare her for a bilateral meeting. I feel like my experience with Commerce has really come full circle; a few months after returning from study abroad in 2014, I interned at Commerce's Export Assistance Center in San Diego.”
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) has begun teaching in Los Angeles. She has also been working on a holistic nutritionist certification and is excited to be able to do some counseling and workshops related to food education when she is done. She writes, “I’m extraordinarily blessed to have great people around me who’ve made this tough time so much better – my boyfriend Truman, my family, and my three huskies who keep life fluffy and interesting.”
Christian Koguchi (Japan, 2014-15) is living in Seattle and working at Xbox/Microsoft and very much enjoying both. He writes, “I love the mix of forest and nature aesthetics with the sleek modern city vibes (actually not too dissimilar from Sendai where I studied abroad).” He loves Ramen Danbo, his favorite ramen restaurant in the city, and is a fan of the coffee culture.
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) and her fiancé moved to Sacramento with their two dogs. Molly and Peter are getting married in March. She continues to work with Kimley-Horn as a Civil Engineer, and her focus has shifted to designing and writing grant applications for active transportation projects. While they have no concrete travel plans, Molly writes, “I would love to take Peter to Ireland to share my EAP memories with him.”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-2012) notes that few experiences have been as life-changing as her study abroad experience in Denmark. She continues to work in transportation planning, having found her initial inspiration after witnessing enhanced transportation and efficiency in Denmark. Since returning she has also volunteered regularly for Women’s Transportation Seminar, a career and networking group that also provides annual scholarships to female students pursuing a career in transportation. She is currently planning a trip in 2022 to see members of her host family who are temporarily residing in South Carolina.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) is living in Sacramento working as a high school Spanish teacher. Her classes have done letter and video exchanges with peers in Spain and Argentina, which has been fun. She writes, “Teaching through the pandemic has been very tough and exhausting, so I'm still taking things one day at a time. The highlight of my summer was a road trip to Seattle, and I'm itching to travel abroad when things open back up.”
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) is currently working at Stanford Hospital's oncology department. She writes, “I am reminded each day by my patients how privileged I am to be in the position of being able to take care of them, and watching each patient strive to achieve their optimal state of health with resilience and determination motivates me to keep moving forward positively despite the drastic changes occurring in healthcare due to the pandemic.”
Laura Summers (The Netherlands, 2008-09) started a new job at an early-stage startup called TruePlan. She writes, “It's an exciting opportunity to help grow a company and I'm learning a lot in the process. Instead of traveling this year I'll be taking advantage of living near the mountains and hitting the slopes in Colorado.”
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) continues as Assistant Head of Lower School and Curriculum Coordinator at an independent school in Palo Alto, CA, and is (slowly but surely) preparing his dissertation research proposal.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) and her husband Amaury moved to Rabat, Morocco this year with Amaury’s job with the U.S. Foreign Service. Nicola is continuing to work remotely for the U.S. Bureau of Diplomatic Security and loves being able to use her French on a daily basis again in a French and Arabic speaking country. She writes, “I’m so glad that study abroad is back and the students are off on their adventures. I often feel that I never stopped being a study abroad student in many ways, and I wish them the life-changing experience I had in Lyon around 14 years ago!”
Halley (Henscey) Penno (Italy, 2006-07) and her husband welcomed twin boys on February 2nd. She writes, “2/2 - the perfect birthday for twins!” She will be staying home with them for the next two years and writes that she is excited to spend this special time with them.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) and her family are moving from San Diego to Maryland. She writes that they “will be homeschooling once we’re in Maryland! Please wish me luck, I think I’ll need it!”
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) is working at a medical device company and has been able to stay 60% remote (a silver lining from the pandemic). He has enjoyed spending more time with his boys Sam (6 years) and Lou (4 years). With travel abroad not an option in recent years, Paul and family have been going on short trips within California to see family, camp, and visit national parks. He writes, “I'm looking forward to getting my passport dusted off and venturing back out into the world in 2022.”
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal 2005-06) lives in the Bay Area and started a new business in 2019 after getting trained in Marie Kondo's KonMari Method -- "the life changing magic of tidying up!" It was good she had this because come March 2020, all the events she was coordinating as an event planner were canceled! Although certainly challenging to start and run a business in a pandemic, she loves her work helping people keep what sparks joy in their lives, and found creative ways to help people virtually. She spent a lot of time in the mountains in 2020 and out on the water. She is still Latin dancing and performed recently with her dance teacher -- her heart sang to be able to dance after so long! She is happy to be able to travel again and has made local and domestic trips to connect with friends and loved ones. She is lucky to have one of her Senegal classmates live close by, and her small cohort is planning a little reunion for summer 2022.
Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) has been at TikTok as a head of product in its Monetization division for a little over a year. He has built a global team spanning 5 locations and dozens of product managers with particular attention to supporting his team. Jonathan writes that, “Covid-19 has taught me that, despite being an introvert, without human-to-human interaction I cannot be 100% the teammate and leader of which I am capable. I'm looking forward to the day when my entire team can meet under one roof. In the meantime, I'll be flying out on Thanksgiving Day and traveling to southeast Asia, finally able to meet a portion of my team in person.”
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) joined NASA as the Associate General Counsel for International Law, leading the International, National Security, and Space Law practices. Brian writes, “I’m enjoying my return to public service and the challenges of engineering international cooperation across the full spectrum of NASA’s activities: from Earth science to the exploration of the Moon and Mars. I’ll return to teaching Space Law at Berkeley Law in the spring.”
Andrea (Martinez-Calvillo) Hassan (Mexico, 1999-2000) has two boys, ages 8 and 5. The eldest has discovered a love for reading and drawing comics. The youngest is just like his mom, adventurous and ready to try new things. Andrea continues to teach her Baile Folklorico dance classes at the high school level. Andrea and her family are looking forward to a trip to Chiapas, Mexico where they plan to stay in the jungle and explore the Mayan archaeological sites. Andrea writes, “I hope both my kids get the travel bug and that joy to explore the world.”
Jennifer Chang (United Kingdom, 1997-98) and her husband Bill will be traveling to the East Coast to visit family for Thanksgiving and will be spending time with family in Hawaii at the end of the year. Bill has worked very hard on the Moderna vaccine trial for children.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors and Program Participants,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-fourth year and with the addition of the five selections this year, 79 UC San Diego and UC Davis students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, and Sweden. For up to date details see the Fund website here.
In May 2020, the University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) suspended all Fall 2020 study abroad programs due to Covid-19 related uncertainty. In October 2020, UCEAP canceled Winter and Spring 2021 programs. Executive Director Vivian-Lee Nyitray wrote that, "UCEAP continues to monitor the global situation as it evaluates whether it will operate any post-March 15 programs. We will make a decision with sufficient time to allow students and their families to discuss options during the December holiday break and enable students to register on time for spring courses at their home campuses." All of the 2020 Borton scholarship selections have been impacted by the suspension and/or outright cancelation of programs. The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund Board of Directors has communicated to each of the 2020 scholarship selectees our intention to honor the award should they be able to embark on their plans to study abroad for a full year in the future. Five of the seven awardees continue to plan on studying abroad for a full year. We are hopeful that these future global citizens will be able to have the life-altering experience of living and studying abroad. In the section below we share some biographical details on each of the current awardees and what we know of their plans.
2020 Scholarship Selections:
Michaela Schwartz is an Environmental Policy major at UCSD who plans on studying abroad for an academic year in Chile. While in San Diego she watches the sunset at the beach every night - the ocean’s beauty is an endless source of inspiration in her major. From a young age it was obvious to her that there is a lot to learn outside of the traditional classroom. This has led her on many travel adventures including six month stays in Madrid, Australia, Hawaii and shorter solo trips to Europe, the Philippines, Vietnam and Kenya. Michaela sees the study abroad program in Chile as an opportunity to continue with her passion to see the world while gaining a deeper understanding of the cultural differences that impact a country's contributions to climate change. She is excited to be practicing her Spanish again and vows to refuse to leave Chile until she is singing, talking, and dreaming in fluent Spanish. Michaela has transferred her applications to 2021 and is hoping for the best.
Carlo Francisco is a Japanese Studies major at UCSD hoping to study for a year in Japan. He was born in the Philippines but has spent much of his life in San Diego. Prior to his birth, Carlo’s parents spent the majority of their professional lives in Tokyo and, as a result, he feels “a great sense of gratitude towards Japanese society for giving my parents the financial capability to bring me into this world.” The study abroad opportunity will give Carlo the chance to experience firsthand the culture that was such an important influence in his family history. He hopes to build the knowledge and skills needed to achieve his personal goal of giving back to Japan. After graduation, Carlo hopes to work as a CIR (Coordinator for International Relations) to promote cultural cooperation and international understanding between Japan and the United States of America. Carlo has deferred his application to Keio University to the 2021-22 academic year.
Jonathan Sarabia is a Business Psychology major who hopes to study at Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain. Jonathan grew up in San Francisco and has never left the country, so he is eager to go abroad and experience a new culture. Jonathan writes, “I am half Mexican and half Chinese, but I have always felt disconnected from my Mexican identity because I could not speak Spanish. Although I do not believe that language ultimately defines one’s race or ethnicity, I do believe it is powerful in connecting people with each other.” He has been studying Spanish at UCSD but believes studying abroad in Spain will enable him to fully immerse himself in Spanish culture. He loves working and collaborating in diverse settings, and believes that exploring Spain will help him develop his cultural intelligence, create global relationships, and become more independent. Jonathan hopes to be able to pursue his plans to study abroad in 2021 and beyond.
Sage Gregory is a UC Davis mathematics major hoping to spend an academic year studying at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Through her prior experiences, she has learned that “the world is the greatest classroom” and she is looking forward to maximizing her education through new experiences, the discovery of new places, and full immersion in the Scottish culture. Sage chose St. Andrews so that she could have an overseas adventure while also being able to learn in a world-renowned mathematics program. She hopes to continue to explore the applications of math and narrow down her interests and career prospects. Outside of the classroom, Sage has been a member of the Napa County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team and has worked to teach children to have respect for nature and the environment through a farm-based summer camp. She would like to have an impact on the community of St. Andrews in a similar manner. Sage is hoping to pursue her plans to study at St. Andrews during the 2021-22 academic year.
Matthew Zane is a UCSD Computer Science/Japanese Studies major who plans to study in Japan at Waseda University. He is half-Japanese, but was not taught much about his ethnic culture and language, and as a result has made it a goal to reconnect to his family’s culture. As a staff member of the UCSD Japanese Student Association (JSA), an organization that plans and runs events for Japanese students and people who are interested in Japanese culture, Matt regularly practices his Japanese by talking to Japanese foreign exchange students. Hearing about their experiences studying abroad has inspired him to study abroad for a full year. During his time in Japan, Matt hopes to take his language skills to the next level and join some of the circles (Japanese clubs) to meet Japanese students and other foreign exchange students. During the summer of 2020 he interned at a tech company in San Diego and hopes to continue at their Tokyo branch during his time abroad. Matt hopes to be able to pursue his plans to study in Japan during the 2021-22 academic year and has submitted applications to multiple programs in Japan in order to make his plans come true.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Tammy Mok (Japan, 2019-20) had to return from Sendai early because of the pandemic this spring and is conducting her coursework at UCSD online. She has been keeping in contact with a friend (another exchange student) that she met at Tohoku University and they read Japanese together. This is a fun way to stay in touch and she has "also found it helpful to increase our reading speed and comprehension, as well as help with vocabulary, which seems to be the biggest hurdle of learning the language at this point. I've also started a language exchange recently, so we'll see how that one goes. Of course, nothing compares to living somewhere where knowing the language is necessary, but if nothing else at least my reading and listening abilities are being maintained!" Tammy writes that she is "looking into becoming a STARs ambassador to encourage and help out others who want to study abroad, because despite my study abroad program being cut in half, it was still an invaluable experience to me."
Minna Luu (France, 2019-20) chose to stay in Paris to finish her courses at Sciences-Po during the spring lockdown and returned home during June. She is living at home in San Jose with her family and took two courses at UCD remotely over the summer. She sees herself living at home and taking courses virtually until 2021. Minna writes, "Even before I left Paris, I was already experiencing a sense of longing and loss for the experiences I missed out on, but at the same time a lot of love and joy for the precious last days with the new French friends I made and the memories of the city. I know in my heart that I will definitely return again, but the contrast of my life in Paris and my life back home is so drastically different I think I might be going through some reverse culture shock."
Devin Doss (Japan, 2019-20) returned from Waseda University to San Diego to live with his family soon after the outbreak of Covid-19. He readjusted his education plan while he was still in Japan and ended up registering for 20 units of upper-division major coursework, including one graduate class. He describes "the jarring shock of reality that I was back at UCSD and resuming a more intensive fast-paced curriculum was immediate and apparent. At first, I was excited to attend university online, as it was new and something that sounded more comfortable than rushing to UCSD through traffic and bouncing from one lecture hall to another. By the end of week one though, I quickly realized that this quarter would pose a challenge. Not only due to my heavy unit load or high-level coursework, but also due to the reality of going to school from the comfort of my home."
Kayla Erler (England, 2019-20) stayed in England through July to finish work on a group project (the work was virtual, but it helped to be in the same time zone with her colleagues). During her year abroad, Kayla was able to complete the equivalent of a senior year in the civil engineering department at Imperial College London. She writes, "My experience abroad has brought many wonderful new connections and a continued love for the career I am headed toward in the structural engineering field." She is now pursuing graduate study at UCSD and writes that “studying at Imperial College gave me a lot of tools that are helping me efficiently problem-solve in my graduate classes.” Kayla is considering PhD programs in California and England focused on structural analysis with regards to earthquake engineering. She writes, “I am so happy to be in love with such a fantastic career path and thankful to have gained many new friendships with people abroad in my field of interest.”
Moa Smith (Sweden, 2019-20) Moa was ordered to leave Sweden almost immediately and returned from Sweden to her home in San Diego in late March. She woke up at 6 am to attend Spring classes at Uppsala University online and completed her Swedish language exam in May. She has been staying busy and exercising a lot.
Hearts and Scholars Dinner
Hearts & Scholars Dinner (February 2020). From left to right: Megumi Kawamura, Verena, Ray and Yulin Ma.
Ray and Verena made a quick trip to San Diego to attend the annual UCSD Hearts & Scholars Dinner for undergraduate scholarship recipients on February 20. They enjoyed the festivities in the company of 2018-19 Borton Scholars Megumi Kawamura and Yulin Ma, as well as Kim Burton from the Education Abroad Center. Megumi hopes to eventually work in Japan and Borton Scholar Yukio King has offered to help if she applies in Tokyo. Yulin mentioned in passing that she was born in Vietnam, moved to Taiwan at age 5 and came to the U.S. at age 9. Verena enjoyed speaking with her about experiencing English as a second language, both in learning the language and learning the culture.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Megumi Kawamura (Japan, 2018-19) completed her coursework in March and graduated from UCSD Magna Cum Laude. She took a job at a startup called Curative that conducts Covid-19 testing. She was promoted to team lead after 2 months and is now managing a team of 17 people. Megumi writes, "It's certainly been a hectic, unexpected, and (at times) chaotic journey but I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and to be working at this company. When I joined, we were a small company of 50 people and now we have over 2,000 employees, 3 labs nationwide, and have thousands of test sites across the United States. Though I never thought I would be working in customer success, it's been an incredibly valuable experience and I have learned so much these past few months. It's also tremendously rewarding to be able to help the pandemic in some way. Our company, Curative, has made testing easily accessible to millions of people."
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) is currently attending graduate school at the University of Missouri, St. Louis in a Master’s program in Behavioral Neuroscience. He is developing a study to investigate the relationship between social media usage and self-concept as well as how that impacts cognitive performance in high-frequency users. In the past, Gio has written about how his year studying abroad helped him develop important life skills like adaptability (see article here). He writes that the "ability to navigate different contexts has proven highly valuable while attending grad school during a global pandemic!" Gio is "thankful to the CBMSF for having helped provide that opportunity, and their continued effort in keeping the CBMSF alumni connected. I think that in a year of social distancing and stay-at-home orders around the world, the importance of community and connection has been highlighted like never before."
Justin Lim (South Korea, 2016-17) graduated from UCSD as a member of the class of 2020 with a degree in bioinformatics from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He accepted a job at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT that started in the fall. He works in a lab interested in genome engineering techniques and is learning a lot from the research. Justin expects to stay in Massachusetts for about two years, after which he hopes to apply to graduate school for a PhD program in bioinformatics or computer science. Justin writes, "I have been keeping in touch with some of the friends I met in South Korea and recently checked in with them to make sure they were safe and well. A couple of us had actually made some tentative plans some time ago to have a reunion in South Korea this year, but with impeccable timing, Covid-19 also happened.”
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) is in her second year of law school at UC Berkeley. She worked remotely this summer for a small non-profit based in Oakland addressing problems faced by low income seniors in the community. Megan feels fortunate to participate in Berkeley's clinical law program with the East Bay Community Law Center's Immigration Department, assisting with asylum and adjustment of status cases. Remote instruction has been an adjustment, but Megan is grateful for opportunities to help underserved communities. She writes, "I feel as if I am achieving my career goals and it would not have been possible without the global perspective that studying abroad provided me."
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) took a new job right before the pandemic hit as a Development Director for the Little Italy of Los Angeles Association (https://www.lilaa.org/), which is a nonprofit dedicated to creating a little Italy neighborhood in Los Angeles in Shelby’s hometown in the Port of Los Angeles, called San Pedro. There are over 30,000 people of Italian descent in San Pedro, mainly Sicilians and Ischitani due to the fishing community that used to exist there. Shelby writes, “It’s been incredibly challenging because I have a lot of responsibility and am the only employee (we’re new and have a small budget) but it's a great opportunity to combine a lot of my skills & develop new ones. It will be fun to say I was a part of this project in years to come (I hope)!” Her time abroad in Italy was great preparation for her current role. She writes, “My life will be forever richer thanks to the people I met, places I went and experience of living abroad. I am so grateful to you and will never stop believing in the power of year-long immersion study abroad.”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-2012) continues to work as a transportation systems planner for IBI Group San Diego focusing on smart cities and mobility projects from her apartment. She feels lucky to be able to continue expanding her horizons by delving into her wellness side hustle and sharing her passions for yoga and essential oils on Zoom.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) began the year working on a multidisciplinary Master's in Spanish (linguistics, literature, and pedagogy) in Madrid through the Middlebury College Language Schools. She was able to travel to Madeira, Vienna, Budapest, and different parts of Spain prior to the pandemic. Her MA program moved entirely online in March. She stayed in Spain until the summer, and had to give up her plans for ending her studies in South America. Tamar writes, “Now I'm back in online classes, but this time as a teacher rather than a student. In August, I started working again as a Spanish teacher at the same high school I left in Elk Grove, and I've never felt so challenged (and exhausted) in my life. Distance learning has really pushed me to expand my capacities as a teacher, and while these circumstances are terrible for students' learning, mental health, and social development, I do think that we'll all have learned some very valuable lessons in resilience, empathy, patience, and resourcefulness as a result of this experience.”
Hanna Lopez Rahimi (France, 2009-10) is still teaching high school Spanish in her fifth year in Mill Valley. She and her wife recently welcomed a baby boy and view the extra time they are spending with him while working from home as a silver lining of the pandemic.
Alexandra DeLaney (Denmark, 2009-10) is starting her second year at Penn Law where she is studying intellectual property and plans to use her legal training to help scientists commercialize their inventions. She continues to live in Philadelphia with her husband and pets. During the summer, she completed a judicial internship in the District of Delaware where she was able to observe a variety of cases involving intellectual property issues. Alexandra writes, "I am going to be interviewing for my 2L summer jobs soon, and I am sure I will be asked about my experience in Denmark. I am also using my scientific background to discuss emerging Covid issues with my classmates."
Laura Summers (The Netherlands, 2008-09) has adjusted to working from home in Denver and uses the extra time not spent commuting to cook and bake. She has also spent time volunteering through her work as a design consultant for nonprofits. Laura writes that she and her husband recently took a camping trip to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. “The fall colors were gorgeous and we got to see bears, wolves, and bison in the park. Overall in 2020, I've been trying to learn to enjoy the little things and re-evaluate what things are most important to me. I'm looking forward to putting up holiday decorations this year and (hopefully!) getting to travel a bit more in 2021.”
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) started a new role over the summer at an independent school in Palo Alto, California as the Assistant Head of Lower School and Curriculum Coordinator. Part of his position is co-chairing his school’s anti-racism committee which, along with the school’s focus on social-emotional learning and constructivist, project-based learning, is what attracted him to the organization and role. Nuanced understanding of inter- and intra-cultural relationships, gained from his experiences abroad and continued conversations with the international and Borton Scholars communities, has contributed greatly to his work.
Nicola Hil (Lyon 2007-2008): Nicola and her husband Amaury came back from their overseas tour in Pakistan a couple months earlier than expected this year due to Covid-19. After finishing their work for U.S. Embassy Islamabad remotely, they started new positions with the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. They will start a new assignment in Morocco next summer, and Nicola is excited to dust off her French skills for their tour there. Nicola continues to stay in touch with friends from her year abroad in France thirteen years ago.
Halley (Henscey) Penno (Italy, 2006-07) and her husband are expecting twin boys early in 2021. She is still working as a bilingual school speech-language pathologist and many of her students are recent immigrants from Mexico. Halley writes, “I enjoy having the opportunity to use my Spanish every day at work, and my Italian on FaceTime calls on the weekends to catch up with friends from my year in Perugia.”
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) welcomed a second son. She is taking an indefinite leave from work to be with her children and find out if homeschooling is something that makes sense for her family. Jennifer writes that she appreciates "what the foundation stands for and the bridges it strives to make across countries, cultures, and people.”
Tamami Komatsu Cipriani (Italy, 2005-06) has a two-year old son Noah and has received a Doctorate in Design from the Politecnico di Milano. She writes, "I think I can sum up the last couple years as ones of intense learning and growth. My family and I still live in Berlin and we are really enjoying the city and life here. Given the political climate and the havoc of the pandemic, I am very thankful for the viewpoint and life skills that I acquired during my year abroad. I’m wishing everyone the best in these difficult times, but am also encouraging everyone to look for the emergent opportunities for us to come together and re-build: a present and future that reflects the values of humanity that are able to unite us in a shared and sustainable future."
Marilyn Shapley Richardson (Egypt, 2005-06) is working on the government relations team at Catholic Relief Services covering food security and climate change issues. She works on the policies and legal aspects of issues, trying to help turn what is learned from the programs into good policy. Marilyn writes, “I've been really fortunate to carve a little happiness amidst all the Covid issues this year - I just got married to a really wonderful guy named Kyle Richardson.”
Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) is a Product Leader at TikTok and looked forward to traveling after graduating from business school in 2020. When those plans had to be scrapped due to Covid-19 he reflected on his time abroad and the changes in him that took place thanks to the familiarity of full immersion. He passed on this message to those considering study abroad: “I realize that the prospect may seem impossible now, but I urge you not to let current times derail your consideration from delay toward cancellation. Many years after my own experience, I can still think of no greater opportunity for personal learning and growth than a challenge to discover a new home away from home.”
Julia Carter Scanlan (Egypt, 2002-03) got married to her husband Blair in August in a small backyard ceremony with only immediate family in attendance. Julia writes, "We're looking forward to when we can travel overseas for a honeymoon. Blair's love of travel was one of the things that we connected about early in our relationship. He also studied abroad in high school (Nicaragua, Mexico) and college (Spain, Prague), and we're so excited to continue to travel together.” Julia also started a new job in February as the Director of Strategy and Operations for the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. It is a newly launched interdisciplinary center with a mission to "resist strategic misinformation, promote an informed society, and strengthen democratic discourse."
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) continues to serve as rector for Calvary and has learned to produce live-streamed worship services. He and his wife Jane have helped their three children navigate education online, which "seems about the polar opposite of education abroad." Austin writes, "This time in pandemic has offered us new insights into our global family. It has drawn us together from across nations—even for something as simple as a church service, where past members now living in Spain and Mexico, as well as those in Montana, Utah, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, and Massachusetts can come together on a Sunday morning for a live-stream service and Zoom coffee hour! And it has given us the opportunity to learn and grow in ways that have made my family and others comment that they don’t want to go back to what normal was pre-Covid. We’ve learned too much that can inform a better approach to how we live our lives. The time I spent in Scotland, 22 years ago now, was a time of horizon expanding and a broadening of my worldview and consciousness. I continue to be grateful for all that I learned about myself and about the creativity needed to adapt in uncertain times and places.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors and Program Participants,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-third year and with the addition of the current five recipients, 74 UC San Diego and UC Davis students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, and Sweden. For up to date details see the Fund website at https://www.bortonscholarship.org. The site has a new look this year and has moved to its own domain.
In April 2019 the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act (S. 1198) was introduced in the U.S Senate. The bill is named after the late senator from Illinois who was a noted advocate for the importance of international education to both economic growth and national security. The Paul Simon Act would create a competitive grant program in the Department of Education that would enable colleges and universities to expand study abroad opportunities for their students. The stated objectives of the program are: 1. increase the number of American students who study abroad annually for academic credit to more than one million within ten years; 2. increase participation of underrepresented groups; 3. increase the proportion of study abroad taking place in developing countries and other destinations that have historically hosted relatively few students from the United States. While we are encouraged by the potential for a national program promoting greater access to study abroad opportunities, recent aggregate statistics indicate that fewer than 2% (approximately 350,000) of all students enrolled in college study abroad. The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, and other programs like it, play an important role in empowering education abroad opportunities and increasing cultural awareness in the next generation of global citizens.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Tammy Mok, a UCSD Computer Science major with a Japanese Studies minor, is studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. During her year abroad, Tammy wants to conduct research and take language and culture classes to set her on the path to fluency in the language. In addition, Tammy hopes "to learn from the stories of those around me, explore a whole new culture, and grow a more global perspective." She notes that the class sizes are much smaller than at UCSD and she is exploring clubs and circles (a more casual version of a club) with an eye towards joining the Aikido club and the Cooking circle. Amongst other keen early observations of cultural differences, she writes that "many people have said to beware of the lack of garbage cans on the street, but I didn't expect there to be almost a complete lack of them."
Minna Luu is a UCD International Relations major studying at Sciences Po in Paris, France. Minna is Vietnamese and grew up surrounded by her native culture in San Jose, CA, which has the highest population of Vietnamese people outside of Saigon. As a junior in high school, Minna was lucky enough to be able to live in Cannes as a foreign exchange student for two weeks. While those two weeks flew by quickly, the kindness from her host family and the amount of knowledge she gained was irreplaceable. She was also briefly able to visit Paris and fell in love with it; so much so that she promised herself that someday she would go back. Aside from school, Minna is a baking enthusiast and has been dubbed a “foodie” by many of her friends who know her passion for cooking and eating. She is also a fan of cinema, museums, and enjoys playing her violin from time to time. By the end of her year abroad, she hopes to come back more confident in her French and to have gained a more nuanced understanding of the French-Vietnamese culture she comes from. She writes of her initial experience abroad: "Surprisingly, even though it's only been two months, I feel quite comfortable in Paris and a little more like a local each day. I was even able to give a person directions in French about which metro line to take."
Devin Doss, a UCSD double major in Japanese and Chinese Studies, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He studied this summer at Peking University in Beijing, China in the Summer Chinese Language Intensive Program. He describes his time in Beijing as an enriching experience and his language development as rapid. His long term goal in pursuing languages is "to develop the ability to better and truly communicate with a broader variety of people." While in Japan, Devin hopes to join a club to better integrate into the school's social life on campus. Over his lifetime, he has played multiple instruments, sang in different choirs and performed in many venues. He writes: "I plan to explore a new aspect of music I have yet to greatly do much in; dance!" Following his studies abroad, Devin hopes to find an internship back home in San Diego related to his aspirations to work in translation and interpretation. Longer term, he would like to pursue a Master's in International Business so that he can use his language skills in a business context.
Moa Smith is a UCD double major in Political Science and American Studies, studying at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. Her mother immigrated to the United States from Sweden before her birth and Moa hadn't had the opportunity to meet her family in Sweden prior to studying abroad. During her year abroad, Moa will take almost all of her upper division political science classes and is "looking forward to taking these from a Swedish perspective, given the differences in the Swedish and U.S. political systems." She has finished her first class at Uppsala and got "the highest grade possible on the exam, which was a relief given how different the academic structure is here." She has an international group of friends that goes hiking and likes to fika (a daily Swedish snack/fellowship gathering) together. Thus far, Moa has taken the train to Stockholm, visited her grandparents in Hedemora, and traveled to Örebro. After her undergraduate studies, Moa is considering going to law school to study criminal law.
Kayla Erler is a UCSD Engineering major, studying at Imperial College in London, England. Her focus is Structural Engineering, which fits well with her aptitude for problem solving and her ambitions in design solutions and structural analysis. She is excited to "learn in an environment that has both modern innovations and older historical buildings for inspiration." Kayla believes that her study abroad will contribute to a more well-rounded, versatile engineering background which will be applicable in many countries. She cites the example of learning Eurocode (the main Engineering code in Europe), which will be invaluable for her career and is "an opportunity to see the differences between how things are done in the United Sates as opposed to Europe." In addition to her studies, Kayla has joined the civil engineering society and the horse-riding society. The latter meets once a week for lessons, including jumping and going for rides in the forest of Trent Park In London. Kayla plans to travel to Paris for winter break and to Budapest in the spring.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Megumi Kawamura (Japan, 2018-19) is currently a fourth year student at UCSD and plans to finish her studies and graduate in March at the end of winter quarter. She is looking at jobs in Tokyo as well as in the United States. As an International Business major, Megumi hopes to find a job in the field of marketing post-graduation. She writes, "Whether or not my first job out of college is based in Japan, I hope to find myself living there again in the near future." She also continues her Japanese studies on her own outside of school so that she will not lose the skills she gained while abroad and can be prepared for potential interviews in Japanese. Megumi found her experience studying abroad transformative. She writes, "This past year that I spent in Tokyo was truly the best year of my life, and I can confidently say that the decision to spend my third year of college in Japan was the best decision I have ever made."
Yulin Ma (Scotland, 2018-19) has returned to UCSD from Glasgow and is currently taking a research methods class for her human development major. As part of this class, she is learning how to do qualitative research including observing staff interactions at a drop-in center for homeless youths in downtown San Diego. She writes that her time abroad has helped her grow into the person she is supposed to be; that "I feel lucky for all the times that I felt vulnerable and lost too, and for all the people that have guided me and allowed me to experience human compassion during those times: the Uber driver that said to call him if I needed help because he knows what it feels like to start over somewhere new, the old man in France that communicated to my friend and me using Google Translate and later walked us to the station, and the Filipino man who I bonded with because we were both immigrants." Upon her return, she has kept up with many of her international friends from Glasgow. A Chilean friend messaged her about riots in Chile that received little to no international coverage and to say the riots were more violent than what the media portrayed. This experience made Yulin pay more attention to what was going on in Chile because it personally affects someone she knows. She writes, "I really appreciate that my friends from different countries share their insider perspectives with me because it helps me be more well-informed about what's going on in the world."
Isabella Silva (Japan, 2018-19) has returned to UCSD from Japan. During her time in Japan she was able to advance her Japanese and Korean language skills. She joined a dance circle focused on learning Kpop dances, an experience which allowed her to use her Japanese language skills outside of the classroom. She documented some of her experiences abroad in a video series called Living Life with Distractions that can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-D0l_KRIY. Isabella writes, "I have met more lifelong friends from so many unique backgrounds than I have in my entire life. I now know that there are homes across many countries just waiting for me to come to visit and reconnect with my friends."
Alex Slone (Czech Republic, 2018-19) has returned to UCSD and is currently taking a full class load so he can graduate this quarter. He is interviewing for sales roles with a variety of technology companies. He notes that his study abroad experiences have instilled in him a desire to constantly experience new things, meet new people, and really push himself. He writes, "One thing that stuck with me from my travels that I've attempted to implement in my life back home is to focus on connecting with others. Some of my richest experiences abroad were with new people I met or relationships that formed.” Alex spent the summer backpacking in Jordan and Egypt. He has found the experience of cultural difference transformative. He writes, "It’s hard to explain but when you are surrounded by something that is completely foreign you start reading your own book and begin to learn more about what’s going on in your own head. Gone is the routine of back home that keeps you distracted. This is what I learned while studying abroad.”
UC Davis Inspiring Global Connections Reception
UCD Inspiring Global Connections (May 2019). From left to right: Verena, Stephanie, Minna Luu, Dolf, Moa Smith, and Ben.
Verena, Dolf, Ben and Chris' sister Stephanie Borton LeVesque attended the first annual Inspiring Global Connections Reception at UC Davis on May 10th. The event was designed to celebrate the life-shaping experiences that come from global learning opportunities and allow donors to connect with students who have studied abroad or participated in global, international and intercultural learning experiences. We were able to meet and get to know in person our inaugural two scholarship recipients from UC Davis: Minna Luu and Moa Smith. In addition, we got to meet and spend time with key people from Study Abroad and Global Affairs at our new partner university, UC Davis. Many thanks to Joanna Regulska, Ann Solomon, Zak Frieders and the rest of the team at UC Davis for inviting us to this event and making us feel so welcome.
Friends of the International Center - UCSD
All three current Borton Scholarship recipients from UCSD attended the Friends of the International Center Awards Dinner in May 2019 on campus. From left to right: Kayla Erler, Tammy Mok, and Devin Doss at the event.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) returned to his social cognition research lab at UCSD last year. He has been learning to clean and sort large quantities of data while contributing to an experiment studying attentional bias in students showing symptoms of loneliness and depression. In addition, he has been taking an online course to teach himself statistical programming skills and reading psychological research with an eye towards picking the right graduate program (he currently favors a Master's program in Neuroscience). We were particularly pleased to hear that Gio wrote an article on the marketability of a study abroad experience in the workplace and job interviews: https://medium.com/@giocastillo/the-marketability-of-studying-abroad-43b32e91762a
Justin Lim (South Korea, 2016-17) is currently finishing his final year at UCSD with a focus on bioinformatics. After he graduates, he is hoping to work in a research capacity with a biotech or pharmaceutical company. Longer term, his goal is to apply to graduate school. He keeps up with friends he made during his year in South Korea using messaging apps. Justin writes that "many of the friends I made in Korea were also students studying abroad from other countries and the fact I continue to keep in touch with them is quite comforting because I know I have those connections in places across the globe."
Mary Ma (China, 2015-16) is currently working at a Chinese startup incubator in Shenzhen, dealing with early-stage startups in robotics and smart hardware. Her recent projects include designing the curriculum for a product development boot camp and a human centered design course for engineering undergraduates.
Daniel Lee (Japan, 2015-16) graduated from UC Berkeley with a Master's of Engineering in Computer Science, started an orchestra that plays anime, video games and film music, and started working as a software engineer at Uber. Daniel writes, "The interpersonal skills I acquired while I was studying abroad definitely helped put me where I am today. I still keep in contact with some friends in Japan and am able to keep up my Japanese proficiency."
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) is in her first semester of law school at UC Berkeley. During her first term, she had the opportunity to see both Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak. Megan works on the Berkeley International Law Journal, is a member of a student-initiated legal services project called the Reproductive Justice Project, and is a member of the Women of Berkeley Law group. Before starting law school, she was able to plan a trip with her sister to go back to Berlin. Megan writes, “It was amazing to be in the city again and I was very surprised by how well I could still communicate in German. We also had a wonderful dinner with my host family with white asparagus and lots of wine and beer.”
Christian Koguchi (Japan, 2014-15) got a Master's degree in artificial intelligence and robotics from UCSD. After completing his graduate degree, Christian worked on computer vision related problems as a data scientist at Lytx in San Diego, before being offered a position as an applied data scientist at Microsoft's Xbox Studios in Seattle. Christian writes, "I was a bit worried about moving to a new place and not knowing anyone there. However, having moved halfway around the world to Northern Japan, I knew I wouldn't have any problems. I've weathered typhoons, snow, rain, and the difficulties of making new friends in a city I've never been to when I traveled to Tohoku. The Seattle rain can't get to this Californian!”
Sunny Young (The Netherlands, 2014-15) is in her second year of graduate school at Cal State Fullerton for Speech-Language Pathology. Along with her courses, Sunny has completed an adult, child, and multicultural clinical practicum, and will be completing a school practicum next semester, an advanced medical practicum during the summer, and lastly, a transgender voice clinic in fall of 2020. Sunny writes, “One thing that has been absolutely awesome is the growing availability of stroopwafels locally.”
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) is preparing for her Master's thesis defense at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. She has been able to form strong connections with classmates, travel to new places (Israel, Japan & Spain) and develop a passion for making sourdough bread. After her coursework finished in July, she spent a month in a rural mountain town in northern Italy learning about farming and mountain cheesemaking. She is currently a baker at a sourdough bakery and brewery in Long Beach, CA, close to her hometown. Working with food has motivated her to learn as much as she can to fulfill her long term goal of opening her own multipurpose "space" to focus on food and garden education, personal, public and environmental health through connecting to the raw ingredients. She writes that "living abroad is the ultimate growing experience."
Brenda Vega (Spain, 2013-14) is living in San Diego and recently finished nursing school and obtained a Registered Nurse license. She is in the process of applying for a position in the hospital setting to enhance her clinical skills and hopes to obtain a public health certification in the near future. Brenda writes, “I will also be getting married next month so it has been quite a year.”
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) is living and taking classes toward an MA in Spanish in Madrid, Spain. She is taking a year sabbatical from her job as a Spanish teacher in the Elk Grove school district. In her free time, she has been hiking in the Sierra Guardarrama, exploring the city, going to concerts, trying new foods, going to museums, and doing a language exchange with a Brazilian friend she made one day in the supermarket. Tamar writes, "I hope to take more day trips and travel during the holidays, and I'm looking forward to visiting my Chilean host family in June before my last term begins in Buenos Aires."
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) moved back home to the Bay Area this year. She is currently working on a medical-oncology unit at a local community hospital where she provides end-of-life care, work which Yoshie writes "allows me to reflect on the transient nature of life and cultivate gratitude for life's simplest pleasures." She recently passed the board examination and became a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN). Yoshie writes, "I am grateful for the Borton Scholarship Fund for continuing to support students in their journey abroad to not only study in a different country but also for revealing their true unique selves and getting one step closer to finding their life purpose through the special interactions and experiences they encounter along the way."
Hanna Rahimi (France, 2009-10) is currently in her fourth year of teaching Spanish at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, CA. She loves the dynamism and challenge of the profession, and most of all delights in inspiring young folks to pursue their own study abroad dreams whenever possible. Hanna and her wife of four years, Vanessa, are expecting a baby boy who is due at the end of January, so they are excitedly immersed in learning about the whole new reality of what it will mean to be parents. Hanna writes that they "plan on raising their son to be bilingual, so he's already on the right track to study abroad himself!"
Alexandra DeLaney (Denmark, 2009-10) is married and lives in Philadelphia with her husband Patrick and their dog River. She completed a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in July and has begun law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Alexandra will graduate in 2022 and plans to pursue a career in intellectual property. She writes, "I am enjoying law school immensely so far and I am excited to see what is in store for the future."
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) was kind enough to meet current Borton scholar Minna Luu for lunch prior to her departure for Sciences Po in Paris, France. Kipp was able to share pointers and experiences from his time at Sciences Po a little more than a decade ago. Minna writes, "He was absolutely wonderful to talk to and his insights truly saved me from a lot of the culture shock I think I would've experienced without his advice.”
Laura Summers (The Netherlands, 2008-09) is living in Denver and started a new job this year as a Product Designer with Twilio SendGrid. She and her husband are looking forward to skiing as much as possible this season. She writes that "the smell of the cold air still reminds me of Holland and makes me feel a little nostalgic for study abroad."
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) and her husband Amaury continue their career with the U.S. Foreign Service. In May 2019, Nicola and Amaury moved to Pakistan for a one year assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. Nicola works in the Political Section of the Embassy as a Program Monitor for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Her job regularly takes her outside the Embassy to meet with program partners and beneficiaries. She has also been involved in the Embassy community where she teaches yoga and participates in community events such as a recent triathlon and fun run. Nicola and Amaury will be in Islamabad until May 2020 when they will head back to Washington, DC for training ahead of their next assignment, a three year tour in Morocco. Nicola is excited to once more be in a Francophone country, as she has continued to speak French regularly ever since her year in France as a Borton Scholar.
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) left his job in the summer of 2018 and traveled through Europe with his wife and two sons, then aged 3 and 1. They went to several different cities, staying about a month in each one, and came back home to Los Angeles by way of Montreal in late April 2019. Paul's wife Quyen was part of the Madrid EAP program with him and they loved getting back to Spain. Paul started a new job at a Johnson and Johnson medical device company in July and things are going well so far.
Halley (Henscey) Penno (Italy, 2006-07) continues to work as a speech-language pathologist, half in English and half in Spanish. She and her husband went on a belated honeymoon that included her first trip to Perugia since she lived there during her year abroad 13 years ago. Halley writes, "It was every bit as wonderful as I remembered! It was so special to show my husband the town that changed my life forever. Thank you for making international learning and friendships possible for so many students."
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is living in San Francisco and working in Mountain View at Intuit. Over the last two and half years he has been working as a researcher in the small business group at Intuit (products like QuickBooks). He writes, "It’s been so exciting because in my prior (academic) career I was an ethnographer of work and organizations, traveling to various locations like Shanghai and Milan to do fieldwork. These days, I get to apply the same skill set and passion for understanding people’s lives around the world — only now I lead engineers, designers, and business people on projects to help them shape products in a way that can improve the lives of millions of small businesses."
Alice (Wagner) Robertson (Scotland, 2004-05) and her husband Scott have a two year old boy named Lewis and are expecting a baby girl. Alice has been staying home with Lewis but was still able to teach science to a small class of home schooled students last year. Once her kids are older, Alice plans to go back to school to teach and hopefully earn a PhD in education. They hope to travel internationally next summer to France and Germany where Alice’s sister lives.
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) continues to work with the space exploration company he co-founded. In October, on the opening day of the International Astronautical Congress, his company launched an open source, citizen-led space sustainability system. You can find more information at www.trusat.org (from a 90 second introductory video to a detailed white paper), and in this press release. Brian writes that "this is our first experiment in building platforms to enable citizen-led collaboration on an Earth scale." His daughter Adelina is five and just started kindergarten and his son Dennis is 11 months old.
Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) is living in Palo Alto. After he graduated from UCSD he became an engineer at NVIDIA, got an MS in Computer Science from Stanford, and more recently has been a product manager at Microsoft, Facebook and Instagram.
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) is working for the Children’s Law Center in Sacramento representing children in foster care. Ellen writes, "I love connecting and advocating for such a deserving population." In her free time Ellen cycles, backpacks and plays fetch with her dog Benny."
Nicole (Wu) Hirsch (France, 1999-00) and her family moved back to the United States from Tokyo four years ago. They are currently living in the Dallas Fort Worth area. She has two boys aged six and eight and is running an interior design business from home. Her family loves to travel and they are thinking about a trip to Europe next summer. Nicole writes, "Would love to go back to Montpellier and show the kids around!”
Website
The website has a new look this year and its own domain. In addition to the rich content we have accumulated over the years, we have added more information for students interested in applying for a Borton Scholarship or in study abroad generally, as well as information for existing and potential donors and partner universities. Please visit the site at https//www.bortonscholarship.org and feel free to share the link with anyone interested in education abroad.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-second year and with the addition of the current four recipients, 69 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, and South Korea. For up to date details see the Fund website at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
The Institute for International Education of Students (IES) conducted a survey to explore the impact of study abroad programs on the personal, professional and academic lives of students. Of the students surveyed 97% agreed that studying abroad served as a catalyst for increased maturity, 96% reported increased self-confidence, and 95% said it had a lasting impact on their worldview. Studying abroad influenced subsequent educational experiences according to 87% of survey respondents, and 52% attained graduate degrees. The experience continues to influence their interactions with people from different cultures according to 94% of responders, and 76% reported that they acquired skill sets while studying abroad that influenced their career paths. Yet, according to NAFSA, only 1.6% of all U.S. students enrolled at institutions of higher education studied abroad during the 2016-17 academic year. With overwhelmingly positive benefits but low participation, it is increasingly important that The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, and other programs like it, help achieve the goal of greater access to education abroad.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Megumi Kawamura, an International Business major, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. A native of Northern California, she has been active in the UCSD community, serving on the executive board of the Student Organized Voter Access Committee. Megumi grew up playing competitive tennis, golf, and basketball, and most recently competed in a 100-mile bike race. She wrote before leaving for Japan that she "hopes to become more aligned with her heritage, become fluent in Japanese, and explore Japan and its beautiful culture." Megumi was nervous but found that her fears and worries were quickly put to rest when she moved into the Hoshien international student dormitories during her first week. Since arriving, she has taken a trip to Kyoto, and visited her grandparents who live about an hour outside of Tokyo. She writes that she has "met some incredible people from all around the world, had so many great experiences, and have learned so many things about myself and my outlook on life that I would have never learned without this experience." During the rest of her time abroad Megumi hopes to go to Mt. Fuji during the winter and visit Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan during the spring break.
Yulin Ma is a Human Development major studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. At UCSD, Yulin was part of the Asian and Pacific-Islander Student Alliance (APSA), helping them with their annual high school conference, an event which aimed to give high school students from underserved communities in San Diego a chance to experience college. Because she is a first-generation student herself, Yulin is passionate about working with youths who are unfamiliar with the process of navigating higher education. In the future, she would like to become a school psychologist in inner city schools. She is excited to be spending a year abroad and experiencing a new culture. She writes, "In my major, human development, there is a heavy emphasis on the compromise between nature and nurture in the influence of development; our genetic disposition controls only so much of our life's trajectory, and experience can heavily shape who we become. Studying abroad has always been a dream of mine because what I had always valued the most in life was experiencing all that I can."
Isabella Silva, a Japanese Studies major, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. She has a love of languages and has studied Spanish and ASL in addition to Japanese. This passion extends to her career goal: after graduating she plans to move to Japan and South Korea to become an English teacher, "striving not only to instruct my students on the topic of the class, but additionally to be a role model and cultural ambassador." At UCSD, she was an English in Action (EIA) tutor to a student from Turkey and a student from Taiwan. During weekly meetings she answered specific grammar questions, explained cultural norms and conducted conversations to help them improve their English. Since arriving in Tokyo, Isabella has been "impressed with how much I know, yet at the same time there are many moments that are lost in translation." She writes that she appreciates these conversations because they "challenge me and help me grow." In addition to her course load, Isabella has applied to intern at an elementary school.
Alex Slone is a Sociology major studying at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He grew up in Northern California and has adopted the entrepreneurial mindset that region is known for. He has held internships with a health food startup and another startup focused on artificial intelligence and 3D sensors. Alex hopes to one day start a company and sees discovering different perspectives as a key challenge to do so. Since arriving in Prague, he has settled into his classwork and found time to travel to Barcelona, Krakow and Berlin. He writes, "I've come to realize that people are really not that different around the world. We all face the same problems and experience sadness and happiness. Really what is different is environment and culture." Over winter break, Alex will be staying with a family in a small town in Italy, working on a farm. The family is a Worldpacker host, a program that provides food and accommodation in exchange for doing work.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Thomas Bayne (Netherlands, 2017-18) has graduated and is currently working on applications for an MFA in Creative Writing. He is moving to Brooklyn in February to pursue writing opportunities. Although he did not achieve fluency in any one language during his year abroad, he managed to pick up a lot of words and phrases in French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and German, leading to "quite a few funny moments in train stations switching between five languages." He was able to fit nearly three full months of travel into his year abroad and highlighted the incredible hikes and stunning vistas of Transylvania and mix of architectural styles from the past 400 years in Prague as favorites. He writes that he "had to learn to be more extroverted than I was used to, and made extra effort to meet new people and attend events solo. Both of these skills will be extremely useful upon my return, especially considering I'll soon be moving to a new city and living on my own." Thomas sees the value of the study abroad experience as the value of distance: "one's perspective can widen and develop with the benefit of space and a critical view….The style of life in The Netherlands and Europe in general places less of a focus on the amount of money made and material possessions accumulated and instead on the ways you spend your time. There is much more focus on time spent with family and friends and the act of giving without the expectation of receiving anything in return."
Gio Castillo (Spain, 2017-18) has graduated and, in the near term, he is working towards returning to his research lab at UCSD, while over the longer term he hopes to pursue graduate work/career overseas. During his time abroad, he traveled to 8 different countries and met people from around the world. He celebrated a football championship in the streets of Barcelona and observed first hand political demonstrations throughout the city. While he didn't feel it was his place as a study abroad student to take a stand on an issue as divisive as Catalonia independence, he felt it was his responsibility to keep up with the happenings and try his best to understand both sides of the issue. He describes listening to "a deafening cacerolada protest in which hundreds of people throughout the entire city would step onto their balconies and bang pots together to signal their displeasure." Gio shared a compilation video of his time abroad that can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3fUMS7ftM&t=28s. He writes that “the process of throwing yourself into a new country, with new people and new customs, and proceeding to figure it all out is one of the most valuable and enjoyable things I’ve learned,” and goes on to say that “the resourcefulness, adaptability and independence I developed allowed me to take full advantage of my year abroad.”
Emily Yeh (Japan, 2017-18) recently graduated cum laude from UCSD. She is currently continuing her Japanese language studies at Keio University in Tokyo and exploring job opportunities in Japan. Emily writes that "Tokyo is starting to feel like home." In late November/early December she attended the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Youth Summit in Tokyo. The experience of living in Japan and learning the Japanese language has left Emily more determined to pursue a career in sustainable development and environmental policy. The year-long program allowed her to achieve a level of integration beyond what she had experienced in previous semester-long programs. Her international background has exposed her to different cultures and she has "come to notice that experiences like this require years of cultivation." She writes of her belief that "people with an international background who are multilingual will be the key to solving many global issues in the years to come."
Hearts and Scholars Dinner and Friends of the International Center Awards Ceremony
Hearts & Scholars Dinner (February 2018). From left to right: Dominique Winfield, Mikayla Webster, Justin Lim, Ray, Verena, Sophie Osborn, and Jennifer Rivas.
Ray and Verena made a quick trip to San Diego to attend the annual UCSD Hearts & Scholars Dinner for undergraduate scholarship recipients on February 15. They enjoyed the festivities in the company of 2016-17 Borton Scholars Sophie Osborn, Dominique Winfield, Justin Lim, Mikayla Webster and Jennifer Rivas, as well as Kim Burton from the Education Abroad Center. Conversation ranged widely but centered on language experiences, food, cultural differences, travel and the fact that they all had befriended numerous international students.
The Friends of the International Center at UCSD invited the newly selected 2018-19 Borton Scholars to their annual Membership Dinner and Award Ceremony on May 22. Alex Stone, Yulin Ma, Isabella Silva and Megumi Kawamura had a chance to be recognized as Borton Scholars and to socialize with a large group of students who similarly were awarded scholarships for study abroad. It is gracious of Ruth and Katya Newmark of the Friends of the International Center (who knew Chris at UCSD) to extend the invitation to our students.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Sophie Osborn (Japan, 2016-17) did a summer internship with the State Department's Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she got to "broaden her understanding of Southeast Asia and meet a lot of young people who are going to be the future leaders of the region." She is currently doing another internship in Washington, DC with a foreign policy think tank called the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She is working in the Japan program and writes, "I'm sure that my year abroad in Tokyo was a major reason why I was selected for this competitive internship. At the office I get to help out some of the Japanese visiting fellows and my language skills come in quite handy since the fellows are not that comfortable with English." Sophie is currently applying for jobs on the Hill.
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) is currently working as a legal receptionist for Withers Bergman. Last summer she worked for a nonprofit in Washington, DC called the Women's Foreign Policy Group. Megan has recently finished applying to law school and already has four admission offers. She writes, "I am so excited to begin the next step in my new journey to becoming an immigration lawyer. I know I would not have had so many of the opportunities in my life if it wasn't for the support of the Borton Scholarship."
Austin Pukasamsombut (Japan, 2014-15) has been working as a graphics programmer for a middleware company in the video game industry. He has been able to do a lot of work with virtual reality systems and was part of a team porting the popular Indie game Transistor to the Nintendo Switch. He credits his time abroad with allowing him to shift his career focus from robotics to video games. He writes, "Although trying something new and unstable may be difficult, I believe we have to take the initiative to try things out to really be able to experience the things we never thought possible. Studying abroad opened my mind and helped me realize that there is a world of possibilities for my future."
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) worked as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles until October, when she moved to Italy to pursue a Masters program in Gastronomy, studying Food Systems, Sustainability and Education at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. She is enjoying living in Italy, traveling, and learning more about the different cultures around her. She writes, "I still owe my initial abroad experience to the lovely generosity of the Borton Scholarship which has helped me get to where I am now."
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-2012) continues to work as a transportation systems planner for IBI Group San Diego focusing on smart cities and mobility projects. She feels lucky to be able to continue expanding her horizons and visited Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong this year. In her spare time, you can find her teaching or taking a yoga class, struggling to keep up her waning Danish skills on Duolingo, or planning her next adventure.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) is living in Sacramento and working as a Spanish teacher in the Elk Grove school district, where she aims to integrate culture, history, and current events from across the Spanish-speaking world into her lessons on a daily basis. In her free time, she continues to travel as much as possible and has been working hard to improve her Brazilian Portuguese. She writes, "Ever since the year I studied in Barcelona as a Borton Scholar, I have been eager to continue my education abroad, and next year I hope to complete an MA in Spanish through the Middlebury Language Schools, which would involve nine months of study in Madrid and a summer in Buenos Aires."
Hanna Rahimi (France, 2009-10) is teaching Spanish to grades 9-12 at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley and received tenure at the end of last year. She also completed an MS in Education at Dominican University of California. Her thesis focused on exploring student voice in a secondary school with a majority population of white students and a minority population of students of color regarding school climate, belonging, racial identity, and culturally responsive teaching. She writes, "I truly could not do my job without the experiences of travel and immense love for the language I gained studying abroad in Spain, and my greatest hope is that I inspire new generations of language learners to also study abroad."
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is in his eighth year teaching Kindergarten and First Grade, and is also the Lower Elementary Program Director at his school. He is in his last year at the Doctor of Education Program at Johns Hopkins School of Education. His dissertation research focuses on examining drivers leading to the underrepresentation of sociodemographically diverse families in school-based parent involvement programs. He writes that his experiences abroad, being immersed for a full year in other perspectives and other ways of "doing", continue to inform his research as well as his teaching.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) and her husband Amaury Munoz moved back to the US in August after serving for two years in China with Amaury's job as a Foreign Service Officer. They are now based in Arlington, VA while Amaury completes language training in Urdu for their upcoming assignment in Islamabad, Pakistan starting in May 2019. Nicola was recently recognized with the Secretary of State's Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad for her volunteer work as a Foreign Service spouse in China. As part of the award ceremony in November, Nicola met Secretary Pompeo and Mrs. Pompeo and spent time with six other inspiring award recipients. Nicola and Amaury visited Ray and Verena in Davis in July.
Halley Neufeld (Henscey) (Italy, 2006-07) graduated with a M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology in May and is working as the bilingual speech therapist at two elementary schools in Imperial Beach. Halley writes, "Although I don’t get to use my Italian, I do use Spanish every day, as most of the children I work with are from Spanish-speaking homes. The lessons I learned in my year abroad give me an understanding of what it is like to live in another country and sincere empathy for the children and families I serve. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity!"
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) celebrated the three year anniversary of her business planning events that make a difference for non-profit organizations. The work allows her the flexibility to travel, which she has done a lot of in the past year, visiting friends in Texas, Mississippi, Arizona, and Hawaii. She also had a reunion in New Mexico with six of the girls from her study abroad program in Senegal. Jenna continues to be involved in Latin dancing and recently started teaching Bachata classes. In November, she visited Ray and Verena at the Artists' Collaborative Gallery in Sacramento.
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is in his second year working at Intuit. He is responsible for conducting global field research into the lives of small business/organization owners and using the insights gleaned to guide Intuit's internal teams. He writes that "some of the biggest fun I had was traveling to the UK and Canada for field research on how small businesses in professional services industries often struggle to get paid. Realizing how comfortable I felt traveling to distant suburbs and interviewing strangers running small businesses out of their living rooms, I thought back to the very beginning of my 'training' in 2004 - when I studied abroad in China on a Borton scholarship."
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) and his wife recently welcomed their second child, a boy named Dennis. Brian left the State Department in 2017 to join a space exploration company called Planetary Resources as General Counsel. In October, Planetary Resources was acquired by ConsenSys, Inc.
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) is working for the Children’s Law Center in Sacramento representing about 180 children under the jurisdiction of the Dependency Court. She writes, “Earlier this week my office mate placed a phone call to a client, got his mother who only spoke Spanish and was struggling to communicate with her. I offered to help, hopped on the line and was able to tell her where her son was and who to call for more information. Despite using it very little, my Spanish is still intact enough to help, thanks to the year I spent in Granada."
Ben Winkler-McCue (Spain, 2001-02) continues to live in San Diego, where he is the Executive Director of Outdoor Outreach, an outdoor focused youth-development nonprofit. Ben and his wife Maria try to travel the world whenever they can. Their latest trip was to French Polynesia to surf, swim with sharks and bicycle around the islands. Despite being a Borton Scholar nearly 20 years ago, Ben shares that "my year of adventure, language and culture in Cantabria, Spain really defined for me the power of new experiences and stepping out of one's comfort zone - something that I now use on a daily basis in my work to connect youth to possibilities and opportunities through the outdoors. I can't thank the Borton Scholarship family enough for their support."
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) and his wife Jane live in Santa Cruz with their three children. In January, he had the opportunity to visit Scotland for the first time since his year abroad. He went with his brother and his mother and writes that it was "incredible to finally have the opportunity to share some of the beauty of at least a couple of my favorite places in Scotland with them."
New Additions to the Board of Directors:
In March 2018 we made three additions to the Board of Directors and elected new officers. Joining the Board are Chris' dear friends Patrick McEvoy and Elaine Johnson, as well as his brother Ben Borton (who has been involved for many years as part of the Selection Committee and editor of the annual newsletter). Former Treasurer Dolf Starreveld took over from Ray Borton as President, and Ben Borton took over from Dolf as Treasurer.
Making Scholarships Available to UC Davis Students
In addition to the changes to the board composition, the Fund's bylaws have been amended to allow us to extend the program to other universities beyond UC San Diego. Your generous contributions over the years have put us in a position to increase the number of scholarships we give each year and in order to enlarge the pool of qualified candidates, we have decided to try to replicate the success of the UC San Diego program at another university. We are excited to announce that we will be offering a single scholarship to candidates from UC Davis wishing to pursue a full year abroad for 2019-20. The scholarship is merit-based and applications will be considered based on the strength of the statement of purpose, reasons given why the candidate wishes to study abroad, and quality of academic record. The Borton scholarship seeks to reward motivated and dedicated student applicants who see the value of broader cultural and personal development that can be gained from a study abroad experience. We are very encouraged by our interactions with the staff at UC Davis thus far and look forward to potentially growing the partnership in the years to come.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twenty-first year and with the addition of the current four recipients, 65 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, and South Korea.
According to the Value of Education Survey released by HSBC in late 2017, interest among American students in study abroad is growing sharply. This year, 43 percent of U.S. parents said they would consider sending their child to a university in another country. The previous year it was just 29 percent. This increase brings the U.S. in line with the rest of the world. According to the study of 8,000 parents globally, 42 percent of parents consider sending their child to college outside their home country. Key benefits of studying abroad that parents identified include developing foreign language skills (49 percent) and exposure to new experiences, ideas and cultures (48 percent). Of parents considering university abroad for their child, 40 percent of those surveyed say the higher cost to them is a potential barrier. The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, and other programs like it, play an important role in achieving the goal of greater access to education abroad.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Thomas Bayne, a Political Science major, is studying at University College Maastricht in the Netherlands. A native of Northern California, he came to UCSD after a period of pursuing artistic ventures in Los Angeles. He hopes to expand his knowledge of international political systems during his year abroad and bring such understanding back to the U.S. in hopes of creating a more efficient U.S. system. Outside of academics, Thomas enjoys film, literature and hiking. He has made trips to Budapest, Dublin, Amsterdam and Brussels thus far. Thomas writes that “the EAP experience has widened my idea of not only what profession I could enter but where I would practice that profession.” He has been hired by several organizations to photograph and report on events in Maastrict and hopes to start an internship in the field of journalism during the summer. He writes, “None of this would have been possible without the kindness and opportunity afforded to me by the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship.”
Emily Yeh is a Political Science – International Relations major studying at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. Emily grew up in Taiwan before moving to Irvine, CA in 10th Grade. Prior to college, Emily took a gap year and interned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan. Besides studying in Japan, she has studied in France and Switzerland during her college career. In 2014, Emily was appointed by the International Olympic Committee as Youth Olympic Games Ambassador and was part of the Chinese Taipei delegation at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. She has participated in the UC Washington Program (UCDC) and interned at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a trans-disciplinary research think tank. Prior to departing for Japan, she was a research assistant at the UCSD Department of Political Science working on a project funded by the UCSD Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program that seeks to make sense of the political communication on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Her career and research interest lies at the intersection of sustainable development, environmental policy, and urban planning. Emily is “dedicated to the knowledge transfer of her off-campus experiences and tries to make more students aware of the resources available.”
Gio Castillo, a Social Psychology major, is studying at the University of Barcelona in Spain. He grew up in a Latino family in Palm Springs, California. He writes that “the differences I saw every day between American and Latino cultures sparked my fascination with exploring different cultures and understanding the subtle complexities behind their norms.” He is a self-described “knowledge junkie” and loves picking up new hobbies like surfing or the ukulele. Prior to leaving for Spain, he was involved in two research labs at UCSD studying emotion and cognition from multiple viewpoints. In his time in Spain he has experienced first-hand the political turmoil of the Catalan independence referendum. He is currently monitoring the elections for the new regional government after Europe did not recognize Catalan independence on the grounds of political illegitimacy. Large turnout is expected. He writes, “The most impactful moment I’ve experienced thus far was participating in the anti-terrorism march in the aftermath of the attack on La Rambla. The theme was ‘No Tenim Por’ or ‘We Are Not Afraid.’ Thousands took to the streets of Barcelona, myself included, to demonstrate they would not show the fear ISIS wishes to instill.” For Christmas, Gio will be traveling to Dubai to visit a cousin who just had twins. He is also eagerly looking forward to the upcoming match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Alexandria Vollhardt is a Literatures of the World major studying at Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. She grew up in Ventura County, California and has a strong interest in languages including German, French, and Italian. The focus of her studies is European literatures and literary theory. At UCSD, she became involved with the Muir Quarterly, a satirical newspaper created and managed by students, as a staff writer and assistant copy editor. She chose to study in Berlin as a way to engage with her heritage while also experiencing a city completely new to her. She writes, “I am learning how to consolidate the difficult and privileged parts of living abroad, and understanding that not every second is a thrill, but rather a piece in a larger puzzle that one must make oneself. Each moment will make up some part of the final product, but right now (at the beginning), I am most concerned with finding the corner pieces.” Alexandria would eventually like to teach at the university level and continue research in the field of literature.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars
Mikayla Webster (Japan, 2016-17) is finishing her undergraduate degree at UCSD and, partially inspired by German friends she made during her time in Japan, hopes to pursue a Master’s degree at the Technical University in Munich, Germany. Mikayla writes of her year in Sendai, Japan, “I have learned more and in new ways about the world, studying, socializing and myself than I could have even comprehended prior to my stay in Japan.” She came to understand cultural differences through language: “While English has many tenses, Japanese has only past and non-past. Rather, their infinite verb conjugations reflect social hierarchy. It enforces a distinction based on age and status that is inescapable.” However, she found the collective mentality facilities “an air of kindness and willingness to self-sacrifice for the good of others the likes of which does not exist in America.” She spent half of her time in Sendai in a laboratory and gained myriad hands-on learning experiences she would not have obtained in the U.S. Mikayla was able to visit Osaka, Kyoto, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam. She writes that she underwent a transformation during her travels: “I was extremely scared while first traveling. I tended to distrust everyone and kept to myself while entering a new situation. While traveling alone I met many locals and other travelers who helped me realize something I always knew but never quite understood: Everyone, like me, is just human.”
Sophie Osborn (Japan, 2016-17) returned from Tokyo this past summer and took on the challenge of a leadership role for a summer academic exchange conference called the Korean-American Student Conference. An executive group of eight Korean and American students led Korean and American delegates across the U.S. to three cities: Washington D.C., Dallas, and San Francisco. Sophie writes that “the confidence I gained from studying abroad in Tokyo allowed me to take the lead in our group and finish off the conference successfully.” Her experiences abroad have inspired her to try to reach out to younger students at UCSD during her final year, and in order to do that she has become the Vice President of the International Studies Student Association. The organization has hosted many international-themed events and Sophie tries to talk to as many member students about studying abroad as possible. Post-graduation, she hopes to join a think tank in Washington as a research assistant focused on East Asian foreign policy. She writes, “My internship in Tokyo with the think tank the Japan Forum on International Relations has given me insight into this career field, and I would love the chance to try my hand at it here in the U.S.”
Jennifer Rivas (France, 2016-17) wrote from London, England in the spring, where she was taking a vacation. She writes, “It’s so very interesting to see and feel the difference between English and French society, and realize that in the end, I’ve become a little French myself!”
Justin Lim (South Korea, 2016-17) is finishing his undergraduate studies at UCSD. At the end of his time in Korea he reflected that it “was truly a pleasure and privilege to meet not only Koreans, but also people from other countries around the world. “ He gained insights and perspectives he had never considered before. He writes, “It seems that I needed to leave my home country to discover that I was living in my own little bubble.” He wishes to “reiterate my thanks to the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund for granting me this opportunity. It’s difficult to put into words, but the world and my future look so different from before.”
Hearts and Scholars Dinner and Friends of the International Center Awards Ceremony
Friends of the International Center Annual Membership Dinner and Awards Ceremony (May 2017). From left to right: Gio Castillo and Alexandria Vollhardt.
Ray and Verena made a quick trip to San Diego to attend the February 23 annual UCSD Hearts & Scholars Dinner for undergraduate scholarship recipients. They enjoyed the festivities in the company of 2015-16 Borton Scholars Mary Ma and Daniel Lee and Kim Burton from the Education Abroad Center. In addition to sharing some of their experiences at Peking University in Beijing and Keio University in Tokyo with the Bortons, Daniel and Mary also had fun comparing notes about the differences in regional spoken Chinese and foods.
Vincent Yu and Megan Bright were unable to attend the dinner, but Vincent managed an early morning visit to the hotel for breakfast. He emphasized the value of having a full year experience abroad, saying that one year “sacrificed” was definitely worthwhile as a life experience. Tohoku University had provided lab experiences that were very valuable while presenting a different dynamic in relations with superiors. Vincent focused on setting goals for the year abroad and felt he had fully met those goals. He added thoughtful observations about changed and changing views. He was excited about having secured a job with Google.
The Friends of the International Center at UCSD invited the newly selected 2017-18 Borton Scholars to their annual Membership Dinner and Award Ceremony on May 16. Unfortunately Thomas, Emily and Ray and Verena were unable to join the celebration, while Gio and Alexandria had a chance to be recognized as Borton Scholars and to socialize with a large group of students who similarly were awarded scholarships for study abroad. It is gracious of Ruth and Katya Newmark of the Friends of the International Center (who knew Chris at UCSD) to extend the invitation to our students.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Daniel Lee (Japan, 2015-16) recently began graduate school at UC Berkeley. He writes that he looks “forward to what graduate school has in store for me and will try my best for the challenges that lie ahead.”
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) is working as a Kindergarten – 2nd Grade Resource Specialist Teacher in Los Angeles. She helps meet students’ different learning accommodations in a small group or one-on-one setting. Her career allows her to travel and this year she traveled to Mexico, up and down the coast of California, New York, and Colombia. She writes that her EAP experience “gave me the time and freedom to explore and develop a life-long passion for learning about a place and the people that live there with an open mind and heart.”
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14) was recently admitted to Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy for fall 2018. In her applications to international affairs masters programs she touched upon her EAP experience. She writes that “every program that I looked at expressed the importance of study abroad, especially for a career in international relations.”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-12) is a Transportation Systems Planner at IBI Group working on projects that enhance mobility, access, and quality of transportation in San Diego and beyond. Her passion for transportation continues to be fueled by her first encounters with a robust, multimodal public transportation system in Copenhagen, Denmark. Debbie teaches several vinyassa and aerial yoga classes a week.
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) is currently working at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore as a Registered Nurse. Her decision to pursue a career in healthcare was shaped by her study abroad experience at Tohoku University. She writes that her first-hand experience of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Northeastern Japan “instigated a desire to help those requiring medical care after it shed light on the preciousness of a human life.”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) and her husband moved from New York to Denver in early 2017. During the year she returned to the Netherlands to visit her Dutch grandmother and her family. She writes that “Going back is always a nostalgic experience for me – getting to eat Dutch food, speak Dutch, and bike around just like I did when I studied abroad.”
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) continues to teach kindergarten in Silicon Valley, and is working on his school’s Global Citizenship program, the mission of which is to prepare students to be active, informed, engaged global citizens of the 21st century.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) currently lives in Guangzhou, China with her husband Amaury, who is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. In April, Nicola and Amaury celebrated their second wedding ceremony with family and friends in the U.S. Nicola has also been busy working as a freelance research analyst, learning Chinese, volunteering at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, and traveling. If you would like to follow along with her adventures, you can sign up for her newsletter at www.tinyletter.com/nicolahil
Jenna Carlson (Senegal, 2005-06) is focused on her business, Inspired Events, that she created two and half years ago to help non-profits plan events. She loves the work and writes that she is “learning every day more about how to be a female social entrepreneur.” In October, she took a trip to the New Mexico desert for a reunion with the girls she studied abroad with in Senegal. She writes that the group is “is still a tight knit community from this shared experience and plan to do another reunion next year.” She keeps her love for cultural exchange and travel in her heart through her Latin dance team, Sabor Latino.
Alice Wagner (Scotland, 2004-05) and her husband Scott welcomed their first baby this spring. Named after a jazz musician, Alice reports that “Lewis Basie is exceptionally cute and curious.” Alice is taking time away from teaching science to care for Lewis.
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) is working for the Children’s Law Center in Sacramento representing foster children. She writes, “It’s a privilege to get to do this important work and serve such a deserving population.” Ellen recently returned from a trip to Iceland where she spent 9 days driving the Ring Road and sleeping in a van. She described the landscape as “uninhabited and beautiful” and the locals as “warm and welcoming.”
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) moved back to California and took a full-time job as Priest in Charge of Calvary Episcopal Church in Santa Cruz. In January, he made his first trip back to Scotland since his year studying abroad there in 1998-1999. He writes that “it was a great joy to be back in a place where I made such rich and lasting memories.”
Jenny Chang (Scotland, 1997-98), the very first Borton Scholar, supports the Scholarship Fund. She wrote that although it has been a quiet year for her, she is looking forward to reading about her fellow Borton Scholars’ milestones.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twentieth year and with the addition of the current five recipients, 61 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, and South Korea. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
In its annual Open Doors Report, the Institute of International Education (“IIE”) reported that 313,415 American students received academic credit last year for study abroad in 2014/15, an increase of 2.9 percent from the prior year, and up more than 50 percent from a decade ago. In spite of this progress, only one in ten undergraduates participates in studies abroad before graduating, and the numbers are skewed to students at private universities. “Studying abroad is one of the best ways to prepare to enter and succeed in the interconnected, globalized workforce, yet 90 percent of American college students do not study or intern outside of the United States. We owe it to the next generation of Americans to find ways to make it more accessible to a wider range of students,” said IIE’s President, Dr. Allan E. Goodman. The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, and other programs like it, play an important role in achieving the goal of greater access to education abroad.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Sophie Osborne, an International Studies/History major with a minor in Japanese Studies, is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. A native of Sacramento, California, her family spent four years living in Tokyo during her childhood. She has focused her studies on spaces of multicultural intersection such as ethnic relations. At Waseda, Sophie will draw on her knowledge of Korean culture to pursue independent research of a Zainichi (ethnically Korean Japanese) neighborhood. At UCSD, Sophie worked part-time as a student lead on two specialty food trucks and was a staff writer for the Opinion section of the school newspaper. She has volunteered at the Chinese Historical Museum, where she worked to revamp the walking tour of the Asian-Pacific Heritage District. At Waseda, Sophie has started classes, settled in her dorm, enjoys frequenting a cat café “where you can sip coffee while petting the store’s many feline residents”, and joined a club that practices Nihon Buyou (traditional Japanese dance). She writes that she is amazed by “the contrast between the informal, everyday slang of my Japanese friends and the centuries old language of the traditional dance they practice.”
Dominique Winfield is a Biochemistry and Cell Biology major, with a Spanish minor, studying Spanish language and culture at the University of Córdoba in Córdoba, Spain. She has a dream of becoming an oral surgeon for Dentists Without Borders that was inspired by her first experience volunteering at a free dental clinic in San Diego. Dominique feels that learning Spanish will help her provide more effective care to Hispanic communities in San Diego. In Córdoba, Dominique has begun an intensive language learning program during the fall semester and then will spend the spring semester taking standard college classes in Spanish with local students at the University of Granada. She writes that she is learning the Spanish practice of taking some time to just be quiet. “There is a saying here that I quite like, ‘Los Españoles no vivan a trabajar, ellos trabajan a vivir.’ It translates, ‘Spaniards don’t live to work, they work to live.” Dominique has traveled within Spain, and highlighted a trip her program took to Morocco, that included stops in Tangier, Asilah, Sale, Rabat, and Chefchaouen. She writes that, “there were things that I saw and experienced in Morocco that have changed my life and perspective of the world.”
Jennifer Rivas, a Communication major with a minor in Environmental Science, is studying at the University of Lyon in Lyon, France. She grew up bilingual in Los Angeles and French is her third language. At UCSD, she has worked as a project developer for the university, teaching students and staff how to live in an eco-friendly manner through interactive games and activities. She has also performed as part of UCSD Dancesport, the School’s competitive Latin-ballroom dance team. In Lyon, she hopes to get involved at local food banks and farmer’s markets to engage with the French population and understand how everyday interactions affect sustainable food choices. She plans to pursue a career in environmental policy after finishing her degree at UCSD. She writes that the French university system is quite different from California, highlighted by different lecture styles and greater individual responsibility for students. She writes that “a lot of students are politically active and aware, and I think they hold their education system to a high standard.” Jennifer particularly enjoyed a trip to Beaujolais, the well-known wine region outside of Lyon. She was introduced to a French couple who walked her through the long history of the land and their unique bread and wine making processes.
Justin Lim is a Human Biology major studying at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. He is a Korean-American raised in Northern California. His interest in Korea was sparked when he visited the country as a third grader. Justin plans to apply to medical school in the future. In his free time, he enjoys photography and learning about computer hardware. His initial experiences in South Korea include being exposed to new forms of Korean cuisine, as well as dishes known to him that have gained new dimensions but retain enough familiarity to remind him of home. Justin writes that, “School life at Yonsei does not seem to be significantly different than at UCSD. While class sizes seem to be smaller at Yonsei, the difficulty and procedures are comparable to those at UCSD. Student interactions are a different matter.” He is working hard to acclimate himself, and though it is difficult, he finds the process enjoyable, and it is in these interactions that he is “learning things about Korea that I could only learn while living here.”
Mikayla Webster is a Computer Science major studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. She intends to use her programming knowledge to advance the field of language translation. At UCSD, she led a collaborative project with the Red Cross of Tijuana. Her team’s goal was to create a software solution to help better distribute the Red Cross’ limited number of ambulances. The experience inspired Mikayla to pursue an international career in software engineering. Her love of language learning narrowed her focus to automated language translation. Her goal is “to facilitate higher, faster, and easier levels of communication across nations and cultures by tearing down the language barriers that separate them.” Mikayla has a personal goal of learning at least five languages in her life: English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. She writes that, “learning new languages gives insight and perspective that can only be accomplished when individuals step outside their own area of comfort and experience. By gaining knowledge about different peoples beyond one’s current understanding, the mind can better facilitate tolerance, acceptance, and universal love.” She is living in the international housing area at the university and has befriended students from China, Indonesia, Germany, France, Poland, Spain, and Venezuela. Mikayla has met Japanese students through an English-Japanese language exchange group that meets regularly, including several students who were good friends with previous Borton scholars attending Tohoku (Christian Koguchi, Austin Pukasamsombut, and Vincent Yu). She is working in the Advanced Acoustics and Intelligent Systems Lab at Tohoku University, with a focus on psycho acoustics. The prompt for her research is the human brain’s ability to filter sounds that it hears. Mikayla is working under a Japanese master student who is attempting to recreate this affect in headphone speakers. She will spend the upcoming months learning from this master student while defining her own similarly-themed project.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Mary Ma (China, 2015-16) is finishing her undergraduate degree at UCSD. Mary became fluent in Chinese during her year abroad, opening up a new realm of opportunities for her after she completes her degree. She writes, “I was immersed in a new China far flung from my childhood memories. The dusty old buildings of a bygone era had given way to skyscrapers of glass and steel, tributes to an unrelenting pursuit of modernity.” She interned at TEDxBeijing, where she was exposed to a diverse group of international colleagues. She writes that her year abroad allowed her to come to “a fundamentally new understanding of myself as both American and Chinese.”
Daniel Lee (Japan, 2015-16) has resumed studies at UCSD. He went to Japan with three goals: increasing his Japanese proficiency, joining a band to perform music, and fully immerse himself in Japanese culture. He writes that by the end of his year abroad, he reached all three goals and more. Daniel took Japanese classes that focused on the way speaking Japanese varies depending on the listener, and writes that the class showed him how “Japanese, the language, is a vessel that carries the different attitudes that Japanese people carry towards other people.” Daniel joined a band club which allowed him to participate in musical performances, form strong bonds with Japanese students, and gain fluency speaking Japanese. He was able to travel to Hokkaido, Kyoto and Osaka during the year. When the school year ended, he got an internship at a software startup in Tokyo based on his academic work in natural language processing, and the experience has led him to consider the possibility of working in Japan in the future. Daniel writes that he felt a connection to Chris Borton, someone he never met, through the shared experience of living abroad, and that the scholarship “changed and touched my life by giving me this opportunity to study abroad.”
Megan Bright (Germany, 2015-16) is finishing her undergraduate studies at UCSD. She was recently accepted to be a member of STARS program on campus, acting as a peer ambassador for the study abroad program. During the year she attended the Free University Berlin she was able to travel to Split, Dubrovnik, Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Nuremberg, Dresden, Prague, Dublin, Barcelona, Valencia, Paris, Rome and London. She writes that the experience of studying and traveling abroad both opened her eyes and “made me appreciate the people in my life and has actually brought us closer.”
Vincent Yu (Japan, 2015-16) is exploring career opportunities with Google. During his year in Japan he joined a language exchange program (the same one that Mikayla Webster is participating in this year) and the Tohoku cycling club. During his winter break, he and a Swiss friend did an extensive bike tour, covering 500 kilometers that, over a span of six days, took them from Sendai to Fukushima, and on to Aizawkamatsu, Niigata, Oguni, Yamagata, and back to Sendai. His academic life consisted of lab research pertaining to computer vision and Japanese language and culture. Vincent volunteered at nursery schools and daycares during his year abroad and found the experience very rewarding. He passed on an anecdote to illustrate the awakening of cultural awareness. One day on the way to school, he “heard the sound of playful music coming from what sounded like a truck. I ran toward the music fully prepared to have some ice cream, but was sorely disappointed to discover that the music had been coming from a garbage truck.”
Hearts and Scholars Dinner and Friends of the International Center Awards Ceremony
Friends of the International Center Annual Membership Dinner and Awards Ceremony (May 2016). From left to right: Dominique Winfield, Mikayla Webster, Sophie Osborne, and Justin Kim.
Ray and Verena made a very quick trip to San Diego to attend the annual UCSD Hearts & Scholars Dinner for undergraduate scholarship recipients in the company of 2014-15 Borton Scholars Austin Pukasamsombut and Shelby Newallis and Kim Burton from the Education Abroad Center. Unfortunately Sunny Young and Christian Koguchi could not make it due to scheduling conflicts. It was most interesting to talk with Shelby and Austin about their experiences abroad and their readjustment to UCSD after a year away.
Two months later the Friends of the International Center at UCSD suggested that the five newly selected Borton Scholars for 2016-17 could be included in their Annual Membership Dinner and Awards Ceremony to be held May 17. We were delighted with that invitation and although Ray and Verena had to cancel plans to attend, it was a chance for four of the five new recipients to meet and mingle with a large group of students who were similarly heading abroad with scholarships. Jennifer Rivas was not able to make it, but the picture shows Dominique Winfield, Mikayla Webster, Sophie Osborn and Justin Lim with their awards at the ceremony. They clearly had a fine time and we thank Ruth and Katya Newmark of the Friends of the International Center for welcoming them to join in the festivities.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Christian Koguchi (Japan, 2014-15) interned with Intel the summer after returning from Japan. Back at UCSD, he became an officer of the electrical engineering honor society on campus and is in charge of holding technical seminars and workshops for undergraduate students. He is working hard and thinking about career options and graduate schools, and considering doing a Master’s program abroad.
Austin Pukasamsombut (Japan, 2014-15) is finishing his fifth year as an undergraduate at UCSD. He did an internship at MIT’s Lincoln Lab over the summer. One of the research groups at the Lab was interested in the work he did at Tohoku University on quadcopters and unmanned aerial vehicles and offered him the paid summer position. He has taken a strong interest in the field of virtual reality, and, after graduating, hopes to find work in the private sector that combines skills in that field with his previous work on autonomy and machine learning.
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) is working as an Intervention Aide at an elementary school in Wilmington. She helps second and third grade students that are below grade level improve literacy and foundational phonics skills. She has applied for a Fulbright Scholarship to continue her studies abroad. Shelby recommended an excellent Italian film on the refugee crisis, Terra Ferma, for the International Film Series hosted by the Davis United Nations Association.
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14) is working in the admissions office at the Rady School of Management at UCSD, where she was promoted to Graduate Admissions Coordinator for the MBA program. She traveled to the East Coast this fall and is considering applying to graduate programs in International Relations within the next year.
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) continues to work at Nasland Engineering, a local civil engineering firm in San Diego. She has been focused on storm water regulations, as San Diego has updated its requirements in the hopes of promoting eco-friendly development. Outside of her full-time position, she has been working as a stage manager for two San Diego City College Productions: “Almost Maine” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She also adopted a deaf puppy from a rescue in Northern California and is in the process of training her using sign language.
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-12) is a Transportation Systems Planner at IBI Group working on projects that enhance mobility, access, and quality of transportation in San Diego and beyond. Debbie first became interested in transportation while studying in Copenhagen. On the side, she teaches several vinyasa and aerial yoga classes per week. In the near future, she plans to apply to graduate school in the UK or Denmark to study transportation planning.
Katerina Siefkas (France, 2011-12) is in her second year of law school at the University of Virginia. She is on the managing board of the Virginia Journal of International Law and continues to be very passionate about international law. She spent the summer working for an NGO that involved travel to Sarajevo. Next summer, she will be working at the Bay Area office of a large global law firm.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) is teaching Spanish at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. She writes that it is “an amazing opportunity to share my love of language, literature, and travel with students in grades 9-12.”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) is making a career transition to design. She began the year as a freelancer and is spending several months working with Doctors without Borders in New York. She and her husband extended their family by adopting two cats.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is in his sixth year of teaching, but is now at a French-American school. He is teaching First Grade in the American program, and is thrilled to be back in an international and multilingual environment. He is excited to continue imparting the global mindsets and cultural intelligences necessary for engaged, 21st century citizens to his students. These important elements of his teaching philosophy were solidified long before his first day in the classroom; rather, they are a result of his year abroad in Paris.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) and her husband moved to China in June in connection with her husband’s job with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. She is currently learning Chinese, doing freelance research, and exploring beautiful East and South East Asia. She hopes to start a new job at the Consulate in the new year following the clearance process. If you would like to follow along with her adventures, you can sign up for her newsletter at www.tinyletter.com/nicolahil
Halley Henscey (Italy, 2006-07) and her husband live in San Diego. She started a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology at Cal State San Marcos this fall. She received an OSEP Grant for Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Anomalies from the Department of Education, which will entail extra coursework in the second year of her Masters focused on low incidence disorders and interdisciplinary treatment. She plans to work as a speech therapist upon graduation.
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) and his wife (whom he met while studying in Madrid) had a baby boy.
Jenna Carlson (Senegal, 2005-06) runs a consulting business producing events for social impact. Two recent events were an event for the East Bay Housing Organization’s 12th Annual Interfaith Breakfast entitled “Building in a Dry Place: Redistributing Our Wells of Opportunity” and the San Pablo Youth and Parent Grants Initiative’s Learning Event entitled: “Engaging Parents and Youth: Sharing Strategies and Resources.”
Marilyn Shapley (Egypt, 2005-06) is working in Washington DC at InterAction as a Policy and Advocacy Manager, with a portfolio focus on food security issues. She was part of the coalition that helped pass the Global Food Security Act into law this year. Previously, Marilyn was a Program Assistant at the Alliance for Peacebuilding and worked more than four years in the Office of Rep. Dennis Cardoza where she handled a legislative portfolio that included foreign affairs, defense, and appropriations issues.
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) received a PhD in Ethics and Social Theory and spent the summer with his family as resident chaplain for a summer camp at Lake Tahoe. He continues to teach Philosophy, Theology and Religion, but will be returning to parish ministry for full-time work. He returned to Scotland with his mother and brother to attend a concert of the Royal Philharmonic playing live with recorded Elvis Presley footage. It was his first trip back to Scotland since his year abroad.
Mark Morris (Ghana, 1998-99) lives in San Francisco and his clothing label opened a second retail outlet called Lexington Standard in the Mission neighborhood late last year. This summer Lexington Standard was honored by San Francisco Magazine, receiving its coveted Best Women’s Apparel designation.
Jennifer Chang (UK, 1997-98) recently made a contribution to the Fund and noted that, “Supporting study abroad and international experiences for college students suddenly seems much more important after this election. It’s great to see how much the Fund has grown over the past 20 years.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its nineteenth year and with the addition of the current four recipients, 56 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
In a November blog post entitled “Study abroad should become the norm” Dr. Angel Cabrera, President of George Mason University, writes, “It is a mistake to see study abroad as a sort of finishing school for the elites who can afford it. It should be seen as a necessary learning experience to develop critical skills for the 21st century.” Based on UNESCO statistics, the total number of students studying abroad has grown in recent years, but the U.S. still ranks near the bottom in the rate of students studying abroad as a proportion of total higher education enrollment. We believe that the number of students studying abroad would likely be significantly higher if more leaders like Dr. Cabrera made it a priority and there were more programs offering financial assistance for these specific opportunities. Your contributions allow us to offer scholarships that help students surmount obstacles to pursuing opportunities to study abroad.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Mary Ma, a Political Science/International Relations and Chinese Studies major, is studying at Peking University in Beijing, China. She is ethnically Chinese, was born in Singapore, and calls Northern California home. She has traveled across Asia with her family. Mary writes, “Growing up straddling an individualistic American culture and a collective Chinese culture has given her a great curiosity about understanding people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.” That interest was further influenced by travels in Uganda and throughout Europe. At UCSD, she volunteered as an English tutor for international students. Mary has played the cello for ten years in various music ensembles and has a great interest in music. Mary plans to pursue a career in human rights law and is looking forward to deepening her understanding of Chinese culture while expanding her global perspective during her year abroad. In Bejing, Mary has joined the university news corps, where she does English reporting and Chinese to English translation for the Peking University Office of International Relations. She also got an internship at TEDxBeijing and has been working hard preparing for their annual December event. Mary writes, “I’m really glad that I came to China for a year and not just a semester. I’ve gained so many invaluable skills in addition to Chinese and now have clearer goals for my future and career.”
Daniel Lee is pursuing a degree in Computer Science with minors in Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Computing and is studying this year at Keio University in Japan. Daniel was born and raised in Taiwan and studied at an international school during his high school years. Daniel believes in the importance of understanding the digital world holds a deep passion for computer science. He is currently interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning and believes that the mastering of this technology will bring humans a step further into the future. Since Japan is a hub of technology and a leader in artificial intelligence, he plans to take courses in artificial intelligence and big data during his year abroad. Daniel also enjoys the arts. He started playing piano when he was four, beginning with classical training and progressing later on to rock, pop and accompaniment. He would like to try composing in the future. Daniel started drawing at a young age and enjoys doing sketches, watercolors, acrylic, painting, and digital art. He believes that “being multi-faceted will help me gain a better understanding of the world and the people around me.” He is excited about his year in Japan and the opportunity to immerse himself in a different culture.
Megan Bright, a Political Science major with a minor in German Studies, is studying at the Free University in Berlin, Germany. She is an active member of the UCSD Pre-Law Society. In high school, Megan was a member of the Mock Trial Club and played basketball and volleyball. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through preparing locally sourced, organic, plant-based meals. She is happiest when “hiking through a forest or nature reserve or enjoying the sun on the beach.” Since arriving in Germany, Megan has been able to take trips to Croatia, Amsterdam and Budapest. Her housemates are from Germany, France and Argentina. In her first term, she is taking two political science courses taught in English, a course about the dividing of Berlin in German and German language courses. By studying abroad, Megan hopes to “immerse herself in another culture and expand her language skills.”
Vincent Yu is a Computer Engineering major with a minor in Japanese Studies studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. In high school he built a headphone amplifier from scratch and took programming courses in community college before transferring to UCSD. At UCSD, he is a member of the Japanese Student Association, participates in Eta Kappa Nu (an electrical engineering honor society), and trains and races on his road bike with the UCSD Cycling team. In Japan, he went on an outing with the Tohoku University Cycling Club to Fukushima, where they climbed a mountain so high it was snowing at the summit. He recently passed his second interview for an internship with Google Tokyo. Vincent writes of his early experiences in Japan: “making every moment count, this is how I should live my life, abroad or not. What a wonderful lesson this trip has taught me even in just the beginning of the program.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15) is finishing her undergraduate degree at UCSD in the spring. She works in the study abroad office at UCSD on the outreach team and writes that she really enjoys helping other students plan their journeys abroad. In Bologna, Shelby interned with the Human Rights Night Film Festival, helping promote the film festival put on at the Cineteca in Bolgna. She worked with the founder and an international team consisting of people from Senegal, the Philippines, France, Italy, England, the United States and Brazil. She described it as providing “the unique opportunity of being a foreigner and the perspective of life as someone who is not a native, which has been truly rewarding and humbling.”
Varanon Austin Pukasamsombut (Japan, 2014-15) has resumed studies at UCSD and has been sharing his experiences at study abroad information sessions. He writes that “studying abroad was a wonderful opportunity for me to really explore the world and grow as a person, so I’m trying to get others to have the same experience.” Before leaving Japan, Austin climbed Mt. Fuji with a group of friends from Tohoku University. It was a ten-hour climb to the top rewarded by one of the brightest and reddest sunrises he had ever seen. At the end of the term, Austin presented his research project on Autonomous Quadcopters for Indoor Navigation. The experience gave him “useful experience working in a graduate-level laboratory doing research on robotics that can be used to help people. It helped me decide that I want to do project-based positions relating to research and development for a career.”
Christian Koguchi (Japan, 2014-15) is finishing his undergraduate studies at UCSD. He learned the importance of language and communication as an ethnic Japanese person with initially limited Japanese language skills. At times early in his year abroad he found himself trying to “defend myself when people thought of me not as a non-Japanese speaker, but as an incompetent or just a prankster giving others a hard time. It was tough, but it motivated me and made me embrace not only being Japanese, but also being American as well.” By the end of his time abroad he had achieved mastery of technical and business Japanese and formed a real comradery with his lab partners working on ultra-broadband communication. Inspired by the 2011 earthquake, they worked on communication solutions that would be resilient in the event of natural disasters. He writes, “I felt like I could have a real influence in what I was doing and on the people around me.”
Borton Scholar Gatherings
From left to right: Ray, Verena, Andrew Kubal, Jessica Pham, Brenda Vega, and Rebecca Korff.
In February, Ray and Verena drove to San Diego to attend UCSD’s Hearts and Scholars Dinner. This annual event brings together scholarship recipients and donors. We were joined at dinner by Borton Scholars Brenda Vega (Spain, 2013-14), Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14), Jessica Pham (France, 2013-14), and Andrew Kubal (United Kingdom, 2013-14) and enjoyed catching up with each of them. It was fun to see them all connect with many discussions turning to future plans and graduate school possibilities. Rebecca and Jessica even found out they currently work for the same company! The event has grown large enough that it has been moved to an off campus venue. In addition to meeting the Borton Scholars, we met with Kim Signoret-Paar and Jennifer Leighton who work on the undergraduate scholarship staff and Ruth Newmark of the Friends of the International Center, an organization that also give scholarships to students studying abroad. We had our usual update with Kim Burton at her Education Abroad office. On the same trip, we were also able to catch up with Ben McCue (Spain, 2001-02) who is the Executive Director of Outdoor Outreach, an organization that has as its vision “To transform lives by connecting youth to the outdoors” and as its mission “To empower at-risk and underprivileged youth to make positive, lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming.” Ben has made himself available to meet with Borton Scholars on the UCSD campus before they depart. One thing he would like to make more students aware of is the EOP route he took, where he made the connections with his university in Spain himself and was able to arrange a better financial deal as a result.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14) graduated from UCSD and is working full time as the graduate admissions assistant at the Rady School of Management at UCSD.
Katerina Siefkas (France, 2011-12) is studying law at the University of Virginia. She is taking an International Law overview course which delves into the complex legal issues facing our world. She writes, “French is definitely one of the most important languages in the international law arena and I'm so grateful for my time in Lyon that allowed me to develop my French skills and, of course, spend a year in a wonderful place.” She is thinking about ways to spend more time abroad, whether over the summer or through a semester abroad. Katerina visited Ray and Verena in Davis in July.
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011-12) started a new job as a Junior Systems Planner at IBI Group, a transportation planning firm in San Diego. Debbie first became interested in studying transportation during her year abroad in Copenhagen. She completed yoga teacher training courses and is now teaching several classes per week. Last winter, Debbie had the chance to return to Denmark for vacation and spent Christmas with her host family. She also visited the UK, France and Germany.
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) is currently working at Nasland Engineering, a local civil engineering firm in San Diego. She is working on a wide array of projects, her favorite of which is the coastal rail trail (a bike path along the coast from San Diego to Oceanside). She is planning a trip to Guam next year and hopes to be able to go to New Zealand and Japan as well.
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) will be graduating from her nursing program in Baltimore in December. She is currently doing her senior practicum in a critical care unit of a local hospital, and states that she really enjoys the acuity and diversity of the patient population and fast-paced environment. After graduating, Yoshie hopes to return to California to work as a nurse.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) is currently a teaching credential candidate at Sacramento State, and hopes to be a certified high school Spanish teacher by spring 2016. She writes, “My time as an English teacher in Chile has definitely prepared me with valuable experience, but even so, the program is very challenging and pushes me to reach higher and give my best every day. I’m enjoying sharing my love of language and culture with students, and I hope to inspire them to continue learning Spanish and seek opportunities abroad.” Tamar visited Ray and Verena at the Artists’ Collaborative Gallery in Old Sacramento.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) is currently enrolled in a Single Subject Teaching Credential and M.S. in Education program at Dominican University, working towards credentials in both English and Spanish. She begins student teaching in January at San Marin High School in Novato.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) continues to teach kindergarten and first grade and has started a doctoral Program in Education at Johns Hopkins University. His research focus will be on how to involve parents of diverse backgrounds in their students’ education, using progress assessment and reporting as culturally responsive engagement tools. In June, Kipp attended a conference where he heard a presenter from the Asia Society talk about incorporating Global Competences in primary education. He writes, “Like the habits of mind, these are mindsets and skills we can teach our students to be flexible, engaged citizens in an increasingly connected and globalized world. I was excited to hear that this is a ‘thing,’ since this has always been a goal of mine as a teacher.” Kipp helped Verena with the Human Rights Day program - a reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Davis, CA.
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) got married this year. She met her husband Will at a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer gathering and they have been together ever since. Laura attended a three-month full-time graphic design boot camp earlier in the year at the Shillington School and is now finishing three months as a Communications Design Intern at Reboot, a social-impact firm based in New York City.
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ("SAIS") in May and started a new job as a Business Intelligence Analyst at an international nonprofit called GlobalGiving in June. GlobalGiving is the first and largest crowdfunding platform for nonprofits around the world. Nicola and her fiancé Amaury, a US diplomat currently in training in DC, got married in November.
Tamami Komatsu (Italy, 2005-06) returned to Italy in 2008 to do a M.Sc. in Social Economics at the University of Bologna. After graduating, she completed a one-year research grant from the Emilia-Romagna region working in a social cooperative. Then she began working with a social start up incubator in Bologna. More recently, she is working as a Researcher for Social Innovation at the Politecnico di Milano. She writes, “My future ambitions include pursuing a PhD in Social Entrepreneurship, moving to another country, hiking Machu Picchu and learning another language.”
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) has been working at the State Department for the past six years. Last spring, as the U.S. assumed the chair of the Arctic Council, Brian was appointed co-chair of the Task Force on Artic Marine Cooperation, which is charting the future of international coordination in relation to the Arctic Ocean. When not playing international environmental lawyer/diplomat, he and his wife are enjoying every moment with their eighteen-month-old daughter, Adelina.
Jacob Habinek (Hungary, 2003-04) is living in Oakland and finishing a Ph.D in sociology at UC Berkeley. He writes about the impact his year abroad has had on his path post-graduation: “Before studying in Hungary, I don’t know if I had thought much about cultivating a more global perspective, and I certainly hadn’t given much consideration to the social sciences. And now I’m a sociologist who mostly writes about Europe!” He has returned to Europe almost every year, and lived in Germany and the United Kingdom for most of 2011 and 2012 while completing research for his dissertation. He is now applying to faculty and postdoctoral jobs in both countries.
Nicole Wu Hirsch (France, 1999-00) is living in Tokyo, Japan with her husband and two children. After graduating from UCSD, she spent several years in New York City working in finance, before pursuing a degree in interior design. She opened her own interior design practice, which allowed her the flexibility to work and be an engaged mother. In 2012 her husband received a job offer in Tokyo and they have lived there since. She writes, “It has been an incredible experience! It’s very different to move to a new country as an expat family and exploring becomes a bit more challenging when you have small kids. But it’s been wonderful – experiencing a new culture, making new friends, visiting new places, learning a little bit of the language.”
Andrea (Martinez-Calvillo) Hussan (Costa Rica, 1999-00) has been teaching high school for twelve years and has participated for several years in a high school exchange program where teachers and students from her school stay with families in Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain for three weeks and then the Spanish counterparts are hosted in the U.S. for three weeks. Last year she traveled with her husband, parents and her young son Andres to Costa Rica. Before leaving, she wrote to us, “It will be my first time back there, but this time I get to share it with my husband, my son and my parents. I hope to share my love of travel and all the world has to offer through first-hand experiences with my son. I hope that he will learn to appreciate and respect all cultures and understand how deeply connected we all are at a basic human level.”
Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) has completed a PhD in Ethics and Social Theory and is teaching classes both online and in the classroom. He has written a book called Holy Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Holy Sex: a Sacramental Approach to Sexual Ethics which he is currently seeking to get published. Austin and his wife Jane have three children: Luke is in kindergarten, Anthony is in second grade, and Marie is in third grade.
Mark Morris (Ghana, 1998-99) is living in San Francisco and his clothing label recently opened a second retail outlet called Lexington Standard in the Mission neighborhood. During the year he visited an old friend of the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, Roberta Beardsley, in Paris (they first met during Mark’s year abroad).
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its eighteenth year and with the addition of the current four recipients, 52 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
In an Opinion essay in the New York Times decrying the leadership vacuum in US politics, David Brooks offered some suggestions to aspiring young leaders on how to translate high ideals into practical results. Brooks writes, “Go off and become a stranger in a strange land. Go off to some alien part of this country or the world. Immerse yourself in the habits and daily patterns of that existence and stay there long enough to get acculturated. Stay there long enough so that you forget the herd mentality of our partisan culture. When you return home, you will look at your own place with foreign eyes. You’ll see the contours of your own reality more clearly.” We believe that the skills and experience that Borton scholars acquire in their year abroad will help them convert ambitions to realities. Indeed, the number of former Borton scholars engaged in leadership positions in public minded entities is a testament to this linkage.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Shelby Newallis, an Italian Studies major with a minor in Communications, is studying at the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy. She believes in being well-rounded, which for her means “dabbling in several different fields to compile an array of skills that help make me as an individual perceptive, detail-oriented and more passionate overall.” She is most interested in writing, traveling and learning about other cultures and thinks that her year abroad in Italy will help with her future goal of working in the creative, culture and/or culinary industry. Since arriving in Italy, she has managed a busy schedule of classes and work, and traveled to Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia. In Bologna, she has an apartment in the Borgo La Croce area and passes the Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio on her way to class. Shelby has gotten involved in the community by volunteering for an organization that helps teach English to Italian children in interactive ways, and babysits for two little girls who she teaches English vocabulary by playing games and doing arts and crafts. She has also started an internship with Flash Giovani, a website that provides information about life and happenings in Bologna, helping with English translation and writing articles. She writes that, “I feel like a different person than who I was in June. I feel like I have a new sense of patience, understanding and empathy that comes with traveling and learning about a new place and culture.”
Sunny Young is pursuing a degree in Psychology and is studying this year at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In San Diego, she has tutored students of all ages at a local math tutoring center and worked with preschoolers as a teacher’s aide at the UCSD Mesa Child Development Center. She intends to pursue a Masters degree in Social Psychology and continue working with students. Sunny believes that her year abroad will “teach her the values of diversity, acceptance, and understanding.” She wrote to us about a hitchhiking trip she took from Utrecht to Zaragoza. Her university has a student committee that hosts hitchhiking competitions twice a year. They form groups of two or three, pick a destination, and see which group arrives first. Sunny writes that “It was very safe and I met so many nice and interesting people along the way. It really restores faith in humanity.” She felt the experience taught her about patience, finding ways to keep her spirits up, how to make people feel relaxed and comfortable, and how to approach people so as not to scare them off.
Varanon Austin Pukasamsombut, an Electrical Engineering major, is studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. He is passionate about robotics and electronics and chose Tohoku University in order to perform research under Professor Kazuya Yoshida. He believes that this experience will help him achieve his “dream of becoming an inventor; an engineer who designs and creates new devices to benefit society.” Austin has been involved in robotics since high school, when he led a team to the VEX world robotics championships. At UCSD he joined the IEEE Micromouse project team and was able to make a robot that navigated autonomously through a maze. He arrived in Japan this summer and spent two months in a language immersion program at Senshu University, and then another month traveling with friends and family. He stayed with a friend in Kobe for a month and wrote that the experience “gave me a chance to experience life in a Japanese household, where my friend’s parents would always cook homemade Japanese meals for dinner and I would be able to sleep in a tatami room on a futon bed.” He writes that Sendai, nicknamed the City of Trees, is truly a beautiful place filled with forests and mountains. Christian Koguchi (another Borton scholar – see below) lives next door to Austin in the international dorms and they “push each other to go out and explore our surroundings so that we can enjoy our time here in Japan to the fullest.”
Christian Koguchi is an Engineering major studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. After graduation, he plans to work in the fields of signal processing and communications. Apart from his interest in engineering, Christian has a passion for travelling and learning about foreign cultures. He grew up in a family of Japanese-Peruvians, speaking fluent English and Spanish and has travelled to many countries such as Peru, Costa Rica, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Austria. He has put his language skills to use in the international dorm at Tohoku. He writes of his interactions with the Japanese students, “I’ve learned this phrase called Inshin Denshin. Perhaps the exact spelling may be off, but I was told the meaning of it is like ‘understanding without words,’ and it literally means something like ‘transmitted from the mind to heart.’ It’s what my friends and I have been saying to describe our communication.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Jessica Pham (France, 2013-14) traveled to seven countries during her stay in France. She had the pleasure of living with a host family in Paris, which she described as the epitome of hospitality and kindness. She was particularly inspired by a class she took on the operations of the United Nations and is now considering the possibility of pursuing a career in the field. She wrote to us about the “small, rather obscure daily challenges that I had not quite anticipated--little things such as different working hours (this seems to still be somewhat baffling to me come every Sunday), overly crowded metros that you know completely violate all standards of safety, and general miscommunication with locals due to mispronouncing a letter in a particular word. But these things, as I would advise to any future students who will be in the same position, should be taken as part of the overall ‘ride’ of studying abroad. I believe that such seemingly unimportant ‘complications’ can slowly but surely help shape a sense of independence and confidence in one’s self and abilities.”
Andrew Kubal (England, 2013-14) traveled extensively during his time in England. He visited Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Budapest, and went rock climbing on the Greek island of Kalymnos. He writes that he arrived in England with an American mindset and left with a much more nuanced view: “We all bring along baggage, preconceptions, personal beliefs, and the full weight of our life experiences when we travel, but whatever baggage one brings to these places abroad, one should keep an open mind to fully experience what the culture has to offer.” He will be applying to graduate schools after he finishes his degree at UCSD.
Brenda Vega (Spain, 2013-14) is finishing her undergraduate degree at UCSD this fall. When she left for Spain she wasn’t sure which career path she wanted to pursue. She writes that, “my time in Spain gave me the opportunity to reflect on my passions and talents and narrow down on what I enjoy.” After this quarter, she plans to get a job related to the field of public health and get work experience before applying to Masters programs in Public Health.
Rebecca Korff (Spain, 2013-14) traveled extensively in Spain and also to Italy and Austria. She had roommates at the university from France, Italy and Mexico with whom she enjoyed cooking meals and from whom she learned a great deal about cultural differences and norms.
Borton Scholar Gatherings
From left to right: Allie Vogel, Stephen Dailing, Ray, Verena, and Jennifer Kim
In February, Ray and Verena drove to San Diego to attend UCSD’s Hearts and Scholars Dinner. This annual event brings together scholarship recipients and donors. We were joined at dinner by Borton Scholars Allie Vogel (France, 2012-13), Stephen Dailing (France, 2012-13), and Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) and enjoyed catching up with each of them. It was fun to see them all connect with one another through sharing stories about their time abroad. On the same trip, we were also able to catch up with Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) at the UCSD International Center with Jennifer Kim, who works in Graduate Affairs. Current scholarship recipients Sunny Young, Austin Pukasamsombut and Christian Koguchi met with EAP program director Kim Burton and Jennifer Kim in June at the International Center.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Allie Vogel (France, 2012-13) finished her degree, interned with Bainbridge Consulting, and volunteered with a NGO called Foundation for Learning Equality. See spent much of the second half of the year traveling in Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In Nepal, she completed the Everest Base Camp and Annapurna Base Camp treks. Allie starts a job in the business leadership program at LinkedIn in San Francisco in January.
Stephen Dailing (France, 2012-13) graduated in June and was accepted into a graduate program at the European University at Saint Petersburg. He is studying Russian Art and Culture.
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) graduated in June and has started working for SolidProfessor, a local startup company that creates video tutorials to teach both students and professionals how to use the 3D CAD program, SolidWorks. She also completed a project with Rick Engineering focused on 3D Scanning.
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) is attending nursing school at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. She writes, “Although the program is fast-paced, it is nice to live in a new state where the weather, culture and people seem different.” Yoshie has adopted a Chihuahua and enjoys teaching him obedience and tricks.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) finished her year working as a Volunteer English Teacher for the English Opens Doors Program in rural southern Chile and then set out to backpack through South America. She traveled alone for six months through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. She writes that, “Every day was a new adventure, and I’ve never felt so alive, curious, and inspired. I am now able to understand Portuguese, and I am teaching myself to speak it. Some of my favorite experiences of the trip were camping in Patagonia, mountain biking in Bolivia and spending Carnival in Rio.” Tamar is contemplating long-term career options and looking for a profession that relates to her passions for travel, social issues, and language.
Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10) is in the first year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cell and Molecular Biology: Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology subgroup. She is engaged to be married to another UCSD student this coming summer. Alexandra writes that she is “planning on completing some of my dissertation work abroad, because I still believe international scientific collaboration is the hallmark of a globally-minded researcher.”
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) is working as a private tutor in Marin County and teaching a wide range of students from grade 5 through high school. She also teaches two creative writing classes per week to elementary school kids at an after school enrichment program in Fremont.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) continues to teach Kindergarten and First grade this year and has added a position teaching French at the middle school level. He writes that “While oral and written proficiency are key (and I’m telling them to say anything, but do it with a good accent), I’m moreover looking to impart the beginnings of international-mindedness and understandings of mutual respect on our new generation of global citizens.” During the year Kipp was also able to travel to Denmark and visit with friends from his year abroad during a trip to Paris.
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) returned to the Netherlands to help her Oma (grandmother) move back to the province of Zeeland. She writes that, “It was my first time back to Holland after studying abroad in Utrecht five years ago and it was so great to my family there and to speak Dutch again!”
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) is attending the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ("SAIS") to pursue a Master's in International Relations. She finished her first year in Bologna, Italy and has started the second year of the program in Washington DC. She spent the summer in Thailand working with a company called Trade Monkey founded by friends. Trade Monkey is a social venture that falls in a growing new space between the nonprofit and private sectors. They connect consumers to products while supporting stable incomes and sustainable growth in local communities. Nicola is helping Trade Monkey design their social impact program with the goal of directly reinvesting into producer communities.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) is living in San Diego and working at UCSD in graduate affairs. She is part of the committee coordinating events to celebrate international exchange and foster global dialogue during International education Week.
Halley Henscey (Italy, 2006-07) got married and bought a first home in San Diego. She completed a yoga teacher training program and is teaching several classes per week. Halley is also taking online classes as a prelude to starting a Masters program in Speech Language Pathology next fall.
Alice Wagner-Robertson (Scotland, 2004-05) continues to teach 8th grade at Rolling Hills Middle School. She is looking into starting either an engineering club or a swing dance club as an after school program for her students. She writes that she is “actively incorporating music and songs into our science lessons to allow students an additional way to learn the new vocabulary.”
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is finishing a Ph.D. in organizational behavior at Stanford University. Based on his years of ethnographic research, he is writing about recent changes in traditional design occupations and how design consultancies work with and manage clients. He writes that “Over the course of this research, I’ve also reflected deeply on my own occupational identity, and made the big—agonizing—decision to continue my career first in industry instead of going into academia.”
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) has been working at the State Department for the past five years, and for the last three in the Office of the Legal Advisor for Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, where he is responsible for “a fascinating mix of matters from the Arctic to outer space.” Brian writes that, “This may just be the best job on the planet for me; it is a wonderful mix of international law, the environment, science, technology, diplomacy and the like. And it can be traced to my time as a Borton Scholar ten years ago, studying international law in the UK (it was at an international law conference in London that I first learned of the job I now have, and set my sights on it.)” He and his wife had a daughter in the spring.
Julia Carter (Egypt, 2002-03) continues to work in Stanford’s Central Office of development in the Communications and Stewardship group and has started a three-year part-time MBA program at UC Berkeley. She continues to travel where and when she can and enjoyed scuba diving trips to Fiji and Honduras during the year.
Ben Winkler-McCue (Spain, 2001-02) completed his first year as Executive Director of Outdoor Outreach, a San Diego-based nonprofit that works to connect underserved youth to the transformative power of the outdoors. He and his wife vacationed in Portugal and Northern Spain, and he writes that it was “a fantastic experience to return to the friends I met and places I learned to love as a Borton Scholar. My year abroad in Santander continues to affect how I see and interact with the world.”
Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) is a partner at his law firm and recently joined the International Bar Association, which is a collection of attorneys from around the world advancing various issues that are relevant to international jurisprudence. He attended their Tokyo conference recently and interacted with attorneys from around the world. He writes that his “familiarity with Tokyo and the culture going back to my UCSD days definitely helped me serve as a tour guide and ambassador to Japan for the various international lawyers that I met at the conference.” He and his wife have a 4-year old daughter.
Mark Morris (Ghana, 1998-99) is living in San Francisco and his clothing label recently opened a retail outlet in the city. He is thrilled to be able to introduce his customers to vintage textiles from around the world. He writes that his time in Ghana was “one of my most memorable experiences….I am always trying to find ways to incorporate African textiles into our collections.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its seventeenth year and with the addition of the current four recipients, 48 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
According to the Institute of International Education, 283,332 US students received academic credit for study abroad in 2011-12, a 3.4% increase from the prior year. Of those receiving credit, 3.3% studied abroad for a full academic year. By comparison, 8.3% of students receiving credit for study abroad in 2001-02 did so for a full academic year. This is consistent with what we have seen at UCSD, with the number of applicants for a full academic year abroad declining steadily as the costs of higher education have risen and job prospects post-graduation have fallen. The most commonly cited reason for this drop off is cost, not a decline in interest. At a time when the skills acquired studying abroad – language, communication, cultural perspective, and the ability to navigate new and complex social situations – are growing in importance, the financial assistance we are able to provide to our scholarship recipients with your continued support can be the determining factor in a decision to study abroad or not.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Jessica Pham, a Political Science major, is studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) in Paris, France. Her parents are Vietnamese but this is her first extended time spent overseas. Jessica is fascinated by the study of politics because “the political world encompasses both individual preference and experience, both exterior influences and interior motives.” She strives to find the intersection of the academic world of grades, deadlines and knowledge, and the real world of culture, politics, religion and personal experience. Outside of her academic pursuits, she loves to experiment with various baking recipes, attend concerts, and spend time with her golden retriever Luke Skywalker. She is living with a host family in Paris during her first semester, which has done wonders for her conversational French. Jessica hopes “to eventually pursue a career in social justice law, international business, or in the non-profit sector.” She has “always been passionate about the welfare of others” and hopes to utilize her time in France as a foundation for a possible career path abroad.
Brenda Vega is pursuing a degree in Human Development and is studying this year at the University of Granada in Spain. She is a first generation college student who wants to “give back to her community by influencing the younger generation to pursue higher education.” Brenda has served on the board of Hermanas Unidas de UCSD, been actively involved in a variety of community programs in San Diego, and traveled to Amman, Jordan in the summer of 2012 in a quest to acquire international experience. She writes that “Granada has a very traditional feeling and the historical presence of the Arab culture is very much alive here, although the Catholic religion is very prominent as well.” Her experiences thus far have allowed her to “learn not only about Spanish culture, but also about how intertwined other cultures are to it.” Brenda has been able to travel to London and has plans to travel to Morocco.
Andrew Kubal, an Electrical Engineering major, is studying at Imperial College in London, England. He was exposed to engineering from an early age by his father, an engineer. Andrew is living on campus, just south of Hyde Park, and describes London as “a big city, not as big as everyone says it is, with bustling streets and nightlife.” He is most excited about the perspective expanding potential of studying abroad. Andrew writes, “engineering is centered on not only understanding complex mathematics and physics concepts, but also on conjuring a novel approach to a problem.” Exposure to foreign points of view “will provide me with new tools in approaching my studies and in my future work.” He joined Imperial’s Erasmus club and so far has visited Edinburgh, Oxford, and Cambridge. He has plans to travel to Germany, Holland and the French Alps.
Rebecca Korff is an International Studies and Economics double major studying in Barcelona, Spain. She is from the Bay Area and has traveled to Brazil many times to visit her mother’s family. Rebecca is an animal lover and an avid runner who hopes to run a marathon one day. She writes that her mission is “to share the power of traveling, the power of opening one’s mind, and viewing life through many lenses.” Receiving a Borton Scholarship made her feel recognized and understood and she hopes one day to also create a scholarship foundation. She writes about the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship program: “I do not believe there is a better way to prolong his vision and his memory than through helping others.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Anita Suen (China, 2012-13) traveled extensively during her time in China. She tutored three Chinese children in English to earn extra money to travel, and was able to visit Inner Mongolia, Anyang in Henan Province, Tianjin, and during her six week spring break: Yanging, Harbin, Yunna Province, Guangzhou, and Shenyang. Upon her return to the United States she called her time abroad “the most rewarding and enriching experience of my life.” Studying abroad gave Anita “the sense that I truly belong to a greater world community and that people from different countries can come and work together to cooperate and make the world a better place. That amount of exposure and the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with people from different cultures and backgrounds is not something I could have gotten at UCSD.”
Stephen Dailing (France, 2012-13) also traveled extensively during his year in France. He was able to make extensive visits to sites in France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Holland during his time abroad. He is now finishing up his studies at UCSD and studying for the GRE exam. He writes that, “I will be back abroad again. I do not know when. I do not know how, or even where. Nonetheless, I have caught the bug. There is no way that I could stay away.”
Borton Scholar Gatherings
From left to right: Andrew Kubal, Brenda Vega, Jessica Pham, and Ben McCue.
In June, Kim Burton from the Education Abroad office at UCSD arranged for Jessica Pham, Brenda Vega and Andrew Kubal to meet with former Borton scholar Ben McCue (Spain 2001-02) in San Diego (Rebecca was unable to attend). Ben answered questions and shared his experiences from his time abroad and his path thereafter.
In August, Ray and Verena hosted Rebecca Korff and her mother and brother for lunch in Davis. After lunch they paid a visit to the Davis Art Center, which evolved into a mini weaving lesson as Rebecca’s mother was interested in learning projects to do in her classroom. Rebecca flew to Barcelona, via Oslo the very next day to begin her time abroad.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) has spent this year in Southern Chile working as a volunteer English Teacher for the English Opens Doors Program. She lives in Panguipulli, which she describes as “a beautiful town on the shores of Lago Panguipulli with views of 3 snow-capped volcanoes.” She teaches at a rural technical high school in the neighboring town. She writes that, “the student body is about 460 boys and 40 girls, so things can get pretty rowdy. The challenges are institutional, economic, social, and cultural, and the level of English is very low, but the students have good hearts and never cease to make me laugh.”
Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10) is living in Atlanta, working at the Centers for Disease Control, and applying to Infectious Disease PhD programs around the country. She is moving to Spain next summer where she will be an au pair before returning to start graduate school.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) is working as an editorial assistant at Mandala Publishing in San Rafael, CA. Mandala publishes books that focus on eastern spirituality, art, ecology and especially the philosophies on India. Hanna writes that “the sensitivity to and genuine interest in different cultures and ways of life that I developed while traveling the world are skills that make me a much more effective editor on these titles.”
Laura Summers (Germany, 2008-09) returned from serving in the Peace Corps in the Philippines at the end of 2012 and is now working in the Admissions Office at International House in New York, a living-learning community for international and American graduate students. She is planning to go to graduate school in the future.
Nicola Hill (France, 2007-08) traveled to New Zealand and Thailand in 2013 and is attending the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies ("SAIS") to pursue a Master's in International Relations. The program involves a first year in Bologna, Italy and a second year in Washington DC. She writes, “I love that SAIS has an international component built into the program by offering the option to study in Italy and by having a very diverse student body from around the world. I also like that SAIS encourages students to study international relations and public policy from several different angles with a focus on economics.” She plans to focus in international law and organizations, which will involve learning about organizations like the UN, NGO's, and humanitarian issues. She received a Dean’s Fellowship that will cover her full tuition.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) returned from her work with the Peace Corps in Indonesia in 2012. She then worked for a non-profit in Portland, Oregon as a School Communities Program Coordinator in a poverty-stricken middle school outside of the metro area. More recently she has returned home and started a job as a high school English teacher.
Halley Henscey (Italy, 2006-07) is living in San Diego and engaged to be married next year. She is exploring doing a Masters in Speech Language Pathology at San Diego State with an eye toward becoming a speech therapist working with children, a career that would use her knowledge of linguistics and incorporate her love of languages.
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) wrote from Shanghai where he was conducting fieldwork. He had recently moved to a hotel that is right across from the Shanghai Conservatory, where he found a piano to play. He writes that, “the first time I ever stayed in Shanghai, during my first big travels in the abroad year, I stayed with friends in a bargain room in a conservatory dormitory. I have very fond memories walking down the street and playing pianos in each of the nearby shops. One way or another, the Borton scholarship follows me wherever I go, and even when I return in new capacities.”
Julia Carter (Egypt, 2002-03) lives in San Francisco and works in Stanford’s Central Office of development in the Communications and Stewardship group making sure that donors are well informed and up-to-date on how their gifts are being used. She writes, “I find it somewhat fitting that my work now involves stewarding donors to Stanford, when so many of the great experiences of my own life are due to the generosity of people like you.”
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) is enjoying her work in the legal profession, making lots of court appearances and did her first independent mediation on her own.
We finish this letter with a personal message we received from Jean-Xavier Guinard, the Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director, University of California Education Abroad Program that we think is addressed to you, our contributors, as much as it is to us: “I wanted to thank you for everything you are doing to support UC San Diego students going on UCEAP. At a time when cost and credit are the main obstacles to study abroad, the Chris Borton Scholarship Fund is making a huge difference to its distinguished recipients.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its sixteenth year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 44 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
Speaking during International Week to a UCSD audience, Dean Lynn Anderson presented an informative overview of the UCSD Education Abroad Program. She reported that UCSD ranks 7th in the nation for number of students studying abroad for a full year and that 22% of UCSD undergraduates study abroad, compared to 3% nationally. The long-term goal is to send 50% of undergraduates abroad before graduation. In a survey assessing alumni experience and impact on careers and life, 51.4% agreed or strongly agreed that study abroad influenced their choice of career; 39% agreed or strongly agreed that study abroad helped them obtain their first job after college; and 93.7% agreed or strongly agreed that cross-cultural skills acquired abroad were professionally valuable. We have seen this impact first hand among our group of Borton Scholars. With your continued support we are now able to offer three $7,000 scholarships each year that are having a lasting positive impact on the careers and significant personal relationships of the recipients.
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Alexandra (Allie) Vogel, an Economic Sociology and Business Marketing major, is studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) in Paris, France. She grew up in Southern California, is fluent in French and enjoys traveling, design, painting and yoga. She is a student affiliate for The Center for Research on Gender in the Professions and is working on a research project titled “The Sport of Beauty – Investigating the Lure and Economics of Beauty Pageants” which examines the cultural and economic aspects of beauty pageants and how well they meet their stated goals of promoting educated, self-confident women. During her first term, one of her classes shot a documentary about a café in Belleville called Aux Folies. Allie writes that “People in Paris really stay in their quartiers or neighborhoods, and Belleville epitomizes this with its’ unique feel.” Prior to beginning coursework in Paris, Allie was able to make a trip to Ireland, where she attended a “red head” festival. During the term she was able to travel to Grenoble and Bordeaux. She lives in the 11th arrondissement sharing an apartment with a French and a Brazilian student. Allie writes that it “is amazing just walking through Paris….especially at night and Sunday mornings when it is calm. It is like walking through a painting.”
Stephen Dailing is a Political Science and International Studies major also studying at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France. He was drawn to Sciences Po by the yearlong program, which would allow him to fully immerse himself in the French culture, and by the institution’s dedication to the study of social and political sciences. He was originally attracted to this area of study while participating in Model UN and student government. Stephen hopes to become a diplomat either with the United Nations or for the US State Department. He writes that he loves “the mix of cultures and ideas combined with the practical interests of negotiating….it is a puzzle that constantly shifts in seemingly unpredictable ways due a variety of objective and subjective standards: political, cultural, personal, or simply good or bad luck.” He enjoyed his classes during his first term, and found that the professors expected “more original synthesis of ideas as opposed to regurgitation of facts and concepts” and that the argument style “is a complete inversion from the Anglo-Saxon Style.”
Anita Suen, a Political Science major with a concentration in International Relations and a minor in Chinese Studies, is spending her senior year studying abroad in China at Beijing Normal University during the summer and at Peking University during the academic year. She is a Chinese-American who grew up in San Francisco speaking both Cantonese and English. During her year abroad she will primarily be advancing her Mandarin language skills with hopes of becoming fluent, exploring her Chinese roots, and learning about Chinese society, economics, and politics. During her summer program the EAP office in Beijing organized a field trip to Shandong, the province directly south of Beijing, where she spent four days visiting Jinan, the capital, Tai’an, the city at the base of the Taishan Mountain which she climbed, and Qufu, the home of Confucius. In addition to her studies, Anita has kept up an ambitious travel program, visiting Mutianyu, Xi’an, Chengdu, Jiuzhaigou, and Shanghai. She wrote us an e-mail on the overnight train to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia where she was going to spend a few days in the grasslands and the Gobi Desert, experience sleeping in a yurt, herding sheep, and riding horses and camels. It was a ten-hour ride in an overcrowded train on the way there and the same on the way back with only standing room tickets available. “But, things can always be worse,” Anita wrote, “and it will be a memorable learning experience, and I’m very excited for Inner Mongolia, which was at the top of my list of places to visit in China.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Molly Tremblay (Ireland, 2011-12) started working in the Programs Abroad Office upon her return to San Diego and has found it rewarding to talk to prospective students, hearing their stories and sharing her own. She made a speech during UCSD’s Partners in Education awards ceremony about her time abroad and shared with us some of what she tried to communicate: “While I learned more than I could have imagined about Irish culture and its people, what was more surprising was all that I learned about myself. As a whole, living abroad instilled me with a new sense of confidence and left me with a clearer picture of where I want my life to go.” Molly has switched her minor to theatre because of her experience in Dublin and will be taking both play writing and set design classes in the upcoming year. She writes that she hopes to later combine her major (Structural Engineering) and minor studies through set design because “after all, even theaters need engineers!”
Katerina Siefkas (France, 2011-12) has returned to UCSD and will be graduating in June, after which she hopes to travel abroad again, most likely to China. This summer she did an internship with the State Department in San Francisco and was able to meet several Foreign Service Officers and ask a lot of questions. She wrote to us about sitting on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower with a group of friends towards the end of her stay in France. What she remembered most about the evening was “sitting with this group of people and realizing the full extent of the fluency I had achieved throughout the year….It was incredible to realize how much I had absorbed of the French manner of speaking, not just the actual words but the little mannerisms and gestures that accompany them.” One of the most valuable parts of her experience abroad was “the connections I made with other students from around Europe and discussions we had about politics and nationality. It’s incredible to have the experience of discussing World War II with Germans or the role of Russia with a Finn or national identity with the French.”
Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011) continues her interest in transportation through an internship with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the region’s transportation planning and implementation agency. She was featured in the September 2012 edition of the UCSD Alumni Triton Magazine (http://ucsdmag.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol9no3/features/feat2.htm) and will be graduating from UCSD in March 2013.
Hearts and Scholars Dinner
UCSD Hearts and Scholars Dinner March 2012. From left to right): Alexandra Delaney, Jonathan Nelson, Tamar Freeland, Ray Borton, Yoshi Yamamoto, Verena Borton, Kim Burton, and Debbie Leung.
In February, Ray and Verena drove to San Diego to attend UCSD’s Hearts and Scholars Dinner. This annual event brings together scholarship recipients and donors. We were joined at dinner by Borton Scholars Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10), Jonathan Nelson (Austria, 2010-11), Tamar Freeland (Spain 2010-11), Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11), and Debbie Leung (Denmark, 2011) and enjoyed catching up with each of them. It was fun to see them all connect with one another through sharing stories about their time abroad. On the same trip, we were also able to have dinner in Solana Beach with Ben McCue (Spain, 2001-02) and breakfast in Del Mar with Halley Henscey (Italy 2006-07). Ben asked how he might help us with the Scholarship program and came up with a great idea that we have proposed to the EAP office: interviewing prospective applicants, both to give the students more insights into the study abroad possibilities and to give us more background on possible candidates. We are exploring the idea of contacting Borton Scholars who remain in the San Diego area to form an interviewing committee. This initiative would be very much in tune with the goals of the program: fostering connections and collaboration in the international community.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Jonathan Nelson (Austria, 2010-11) graduated from UCSD and began a doctorate program in Chemistry at UC Santa Barbara. He is teaching, taking classes and focusing his research on various types of gold catalysis. He writes that “Gold will catalyze some fundamental transformations under very mild conditions, which makes it pretty useful, and neat to work with.”
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) graduated from UCSD and is living in Pasadena, where she is volunteering at a local hospital and taking classes required before applying to nursing school. Realizing the value of human life when she experienced the earthquake and tsunami last year led Yoshie to shift her focus from veterinary medicine to caring for her fellow human beings.
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) graduated Cum Laude from UCSD in June. She has been accepted to be an English Language Teaching Assistant with the English Opens Doors Program in Chile, a volunteer initiative supported by the Chilean Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Programme. Assuming all goes well obtaining her visa, she will be teaching English to Chilean middle or high school students next year and hopes to travel through South America after the academic year ends.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) quit her job in internet tourism and took a break to devote time to working on a novel. She serves as a tutor for low-income students in Escondido. She writes, “This is a wonderful chance to make a difference for students who don’t often get individual attention when it comes to academics and I love giving them a chance to learn skills that will help them do better in school.” Many of the families she works with speak only Spanish, so she gets ample opportunity to utilize the fluency she gained during her year in Spain. In her second job, Hanna works online as a teaching assistant for entry-level writing courses at Ashford University. She writes that, “Studying abroad taught me essential communication skills and compassion that aid me in being an effective educator for the diverse types of students in my classes.”
Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10) graduated from UCSD with a joint degree in Physiology / Neuroscience and Psychology and took a job at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. She is working on a retrospective analysis of the etiologies of neonatal sepsis in South Asia with funding for the research provided by the Gates Foundation. With plans to apply to medical school next June, she writes that “after my stint in public health I am leaning towards a joint degree, M.D. / M.P.H., so fingers crossed that everything works out!”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) finished service in the Philippines and officially became a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She is making her way back to California by way of Cambodia and Vietnam. She writes that her “EAP and Peace Corps experience has definitely instilled in me a love of cultural exchange, and though I’d like to find a job in California to be close to my family, I’m hoping there is an international component in whatever job I do next.”
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is in his second year as a Kindergarten and First Grade teacher at a parent involvement charter school in San Jose, California. He writes that his kids “know how to say the date in French, and every day without fail “2012” (duh-me-dooz-uh, with a Parisian accent) makes them giggle.” He incorporates multilingualism and multiculturalism, both standards he gained from his time living and studying abroad, as often as possible into his thematic instruction units. Considering multiple perspectives is an important part of Kipp’s curriculum, as he believes this principle translates into thinking with complexity as well as interacting positively with others. Ray and Verena joined Kipp for coffee in Cupertino early in the year and he visited us in Davis during his holiday break. We feel fortunate whenever we have a chance to catch up in person with Borton Scholars.
Nicola Hill (France, 2007-08) is working at the State Treasurer’s Office for the Tax Credit Allocation Committee in Sacramento and was elected President of Women Take Back the Night, an organization that works closely with local organizations and advocates to raise awareness of violence against women locally and abroad. She also serves on the board of the Capital Fellows Program. Nicola is currently applying to graduate programs in public affairs and one business school for entry in the fall of 2013. She writes that “All of the programs are outside of California (mainly on the East Coast), as I’m feeling the itch to explore new places again!”
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) married a woman he met while studying in Madrid and continues to work at an engineering company in Los Angeles that he joined after completing graduate school at Stanford. He sent us his brief update while honeymooning in Peru.
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) is in the second year of a Masters of Social Work at UC Berkeley and preparing to graduate in May. She has been learning about community organizing, policy advocacy, and management practice and has kept very busy balancing school, internship, work and some semblance of a social life. She has become involved in supporting the undocumented student movement and recently submitted an opinion piece that was published in the Oakland Tribune (http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_22138051/my-word-undocumented-immigrants-should-be-person-year.htm).
Alice Wagner (Scotland, 2004-05) graduated from Stanford with a Masters in Education and found her first full time teaching job at Rolling Hills Middle School in the Campbell Union School District. She writes that she “got engaged to a Mr. Scott Robertson while hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains, married a Mr. Scott Robertson, and moved into a beautiful little apartment with a Mr. Scott Robertson. I’m not sure I could possibly have so many life changing events in one year! As a direct result of my year abroad in Scotland, we had a Ceilidh dance at our wedding reception – which everyone enjoyed.”
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is in his fifth and penultimate year of a PhD at Stanford Management Science and Engineering, and has recently defended his dissertation proposal. He leaves shortly for Shanghai to conduct three months of ethnographic research for his dissertation. He writes, “This trip will be the longest I’ve stayed in China since I actually studied abroad, so I’m both nervous and excited. I truly believe one should not spend too long without properly traveling, without properly giving oneself a small measure of self-exile. When traveling, the fear of the unknown and the un-plannable, given an open mind, can give way to a sense of self-reliance, dynamism, and especially humility that is easy to forget but is so important.”
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) works for the State Department as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Legal Adviser for Oceans, International Environmental Law and Science. Ray and Verena missed seeing Brian on their trip to Washington DC for the UN Association annual meeting because he was on his way to Tasmania for the meeting of the Antarctic Treaty Parties. Recently Brian sent an e-mail from Nairobi, where he and his wife were en route to Tanzania to trek on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Ben McCue (Spain, 2001-02) continues to work with the bi-national non-profit WiLDCOAST (www.wildcoast.net) and other non-profits in the US and Mexico. Ben’s fiancée is getting a degree in Social Work with a specialty in human trafficking. He is still an avid surfer and has returned to Spain every year after his year abroad. He stays in touch with friends he made while studying in Spain during and has added new ones.
Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) continues to work at a law firm in Costa Mesa, California and was recently elevated to partner. He has occasional work that involves Japan but hasn’t had an opportunity to revisit for a few years. He writes, “I’m hoping to take my family to Japan in the near future to introduce my daughter to her relatives there.”
Jenny Chang (UK, 1997-98) continues to work in a lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She took a weeklong trip up the Danube with her mother and visited a few cities that she hadn’t been to since her year abroad in 1998. She writes that “it was nice not to be on the hostel circuit this time.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its fifteenth year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 41 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site at http://www.starreveld.com/CBB.
The University of California system is undergoing a well-documented budget crisis that has necessitated a variety of cuts, including to the Education Abroad Program (UCEAP). According to a February 2011 report from the University of California, the UCEAP has been forced to eliminate programs, reduce staff at its Santa Barbara headquarters by 30% and at its overseas study centers, and streamline its administrative processes. Between 2009-10 and 2011-12, at least 9 study centers and 22 programs were closed, including several well-known and long established sites. Against a backdrop of high unemployment, rising tuition costs, and cuts to funding for EAP programs, the scholarships we are able to offer with your continued support are more important than ever to allow students to pursue the life-changing, perspective-altering experience of studying abroad. In a note after the Hearts and Scholars dinner in February Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) wrote, “On behalf of all Borton Scholars, past, present and future, we are grateful for your support in our academic and professional development as well as in our endeavors as world citizens. Your message and vision have inspired us all.”
Current Scholarship Recipients:
Katerina Siefkas, an International Studies- Political Science / Linguistics major, is studying at the University of Lyon in France. She learned about the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship before she came to UCSD. While still in high school, she visited UC Davis Picnic Day where she met Verena who encouraged her to consider studying abroad and to apply for the scholarship if she chose UCSD. Katerina grew up in Novato, California and developed a love of languages at an early age. She started with French at the age of seven and has added Spanish and Mandarin Chinese since then. In her statement of purpose, Katerina wrote that fluency means much more to her than simply the ability to communicate with ease. During her year in Lyon, she hopes to achieve “an understanding of the applications of the language, of how they define and represent culture, as the quirks of a language are so integral to the culture’s shape and form.” She is living with two French roommates in an apartment in the center of Lyon, overlooking the Place Bellecour, and can walk to her classes. Outside of classes, she has already traveled to Wales, Oxford and London during her first half year abroad.
Molly Tremblay is a Structural Engineering major with a minor in Literatures in English studying at University College Dublin. It is Molly’s goal to study architecture after graduating from UCSD and eventually design innovative, sustainable buildings. Outside of work and classes at UCSD, Molly remains active with her high school Robotics team as a mentor. Her experiences with the robotics team inspired her to become an engineer and one of her goals for her year abroad is to create the first high school robotics team in Ireland by sharing her passion and knowledge. During her first term, Molly’s engineering project group was chosen to participate in an Innovation Ireland exhibition and she reported that they were able to “awe the engineers with our prototype laptop design.” During the term, she also authored a paper about Samuel Beckett and traveled to London. Prior to her departure Molly wrote, “It is with great eagerness that I prepare for my time in Ireland,” adding that she hopes “to leave the Emerald Isle as a more aware global citizen and well-travelled student, ever eager to share my experiences and encourage others to partake in their own adventures.”
Debbie Leung, a third year student majoring in Urban Studies and Planning with minors in Environmental Studies and Economics, studied at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen for a semester. Debbie has a special interest in sustainability and tries to be eco-friendly by taking public transit, not eating meat, and carrying around a reusable water bottle whenever possible. She has been involved in promoting energy efficiency and waste reduction with the UCSD Student Sustainability Collective. She targeted Copenhagen because of its modest size, bicycle-friendly streets and green technologies. After one semester in Copenhagen she has decided to return to UCSD because in Copenhagen she was not able to get the credits she needs to graduate on time. She writes that, “Copenhagen has been an invaluable resource for seeing and experiencing urban livability. I really would love to stay in Copenhagen the rest of the year to continue learning Danish and to really get comfortable with the city, but after thoroughly considering all my options for staying, the academic outlook for returning to UCSD was better.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars:
Tamar Freeland (Spain, 2010-11) wrote upon her return that her time in Barcelona pushed her to become a more independent, aware, and open-minded person. She writes that, “Living outside of my comfort zone and home culture made me more adaptive and confident in my ability to meet and overcome new challenges.” Her time abroad was full of challenges and struggles but as a result, she writes, “My experiences clarified my values and forced me to think about what I want out of my education, out of a career, out of myself, out of others, and out of life.” She was pleased to have spent a full year abroad as she “needed a year to settle in, get to know the city well, establish a residential routine, feel like a local, and undergo the mental progression that comes with living abroad rather than just touristing around.” Influenced by her time abroad, Tamar is now looking for a job or internship internationally.
Jonathan Nelson (Austria, 2010-11) has returned to UCSD, will graduate this spring with a B.S. in Chemistry, and is in the process of applying to graduate schools. During his year in Vienna he came to feel quite at home there. He writes, “I could speak the language after a year, and I really understood the people there, their culture, their views, and their ideas.” He credits living with a German speaking family, rather than with other American students, with accelerating his path to fluency. He worked in the research lab of Dr. Johann Mulzer in the Synthetic Chemistry department at the University of Vienna. Outside of the classroom, one of the highlights of his year abroad was the time he was able to spend getting to know his European relatives (see picture with Jonathan in dark shirt), including several hiking and snowboarding excursions in the Alps. He wrote to thank us for the “tremendous help through the scholarship to make this life-changing experience possible!” and let us know he feels “privileged to be part of the large “International Borton-family”!”
Yoshie Yamamoto (Japan, 2010-11) had her time at Tohoku University in Sendai truncated by the devastating earthquake that shook Japan in March. Thankfully, Yoshie was in Tokyo that day and was not injured in any way, but she lost her passport and other belongings and was not able to return to Sendai. Yoshie was evacuated on March 22nd, in time to return to UCSD for the spring quarter. It took her some time to recover from the mental impact of the disaster and to adjust to the sudden change in venue for her studies. She writes that “studying abroad was one of the best experiences I ever had” and although her time there was cut short “I will never forget the precious time I spent at Tohoku University.”
Hearts and Scholars Dinner
UCSD Hearts and Scholars Dinner on February 2011. Top (from left to right): Ray Borton, Ben McCue, Verena Borton. Bottom (from left to right): Hanna Rahimi, Kipp Trieu, Alexandra Delaney.
In February, Ray and Verena made a trip to San Diego to attend UCSD’s Hearts and Scholars Dinner. This annual event brings together scholarship recipients and donors. We were joined at dinner by Borton scholars Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10), Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10), and Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) and enjoyed catching up with each of them. One part of the program that evening highlighted various scholarship recipients who had gone on to noteworthy achievements. Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) was among this group, as was Ben McCue for environmental work, though his name was listed with another scholarship and it wasn’t clear if it was “our” Ben Winkler-McCue, having lost touch in recent years. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that this was indeed our Ben Winkler-McCue (Spain, 2001-02) and a wonderful, unanticipated reunion took place when he joined the Borton Scholar table.
Updates on past Borton Scholars:
Nicola Hill (France, 2007-08) is working at the State Treasurer’s Office for the Tax Credit Allocation Committee—an agency that helps fund affordable housing in California. She also volunteers with Sacramento Women Take Back the Night as a member of the organizing committee. Her team put on the first annual Sacramento community production of “The Vagina Monologues” in April, raising more than $15,000 to support local organizations that work to end violence against women and women in Haiti through Eve Ensler’s organization V-Day.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is a Kindergarten and First Grade teacher in San Jose, California. Thanks to his time abroad, he is also credentialed to teach French language up to the high school level. In his classroom, Kipp seeks to impart to his students a respect for the multiple perspectives represented by their peers via inclusive project-based units that involve parents’ and families’ diverse backgrounds. By doing so Kipp hopes to set the foundation for his students to become effective world citizens. After receiving his first paycheck, Kipp made a donation to the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund, with a memo that read “Future Scholars.”
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) is pursuing a Masters of Social Work with a concentration in Management and Planning at UC Berkeley. She also recently had the opportunity to travel to Israel through Birthright, which gives free educational trips to Israel for Jews.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) graduated from UCSD with a B.A. and took on an internship that has become a full-time position as a writer for a travel website. She writes that, “It is a very interesting job and I enjoy the creative aspect of it and it is really cool to be able to use the experience I had traveling in Europe to anticipate what readers will want to know about Las Vegas for their trip-planning purposes.”
Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10) will finish her degree at UCSD in the spring in Neuroscience. She wrote during the summer, “I did end up getting the internship and I am living in Penang, Malaysia right now conducting my research project regarding antibody mutagenesis in silico.”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) is serving in the Peace Corps in Dupax del Norte, the Philippines, teaching English at a high school. In addition to learning Tagalog, the national language, she is learning Ilocano, the regional language. She writes that, “It’s hard but it makes people here very happy to see the Volunteers making an effort to speak Filipino languages even though we are here to teach English.”
Ben McCue (Spain, 2001-02) received an M.A. from the University of San Diego in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Since 2005, Ben has worked at WiLDCOAST, a bi-national non-profit based in Imperial Beach, California and Ensenada, Mexico that uses environmental education, advocacy, and policy work to conserve the coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. Ben continues to be an avid surfer and regularly returns to northern Spain to visit the friends he made during his year abroad. He writes, “The experience of living and studying abroad made me who I am today. It pushed me to go beyond my comfort level and to live beyond borders. It has changed the way I see the world and my place in it.”
Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) and his wife have a baby daughter named Arden. He writes: “It’s very cool to be a parent. Life is really good.”
Alice Wagner (Scotland, 2004-05) is working on a Masters in Education at Stanford University. She hopes to graduate in June 2012 with a teaching credential in biology so that she can teach science for grades 7 to 12. She writes about teaching, “Figuring out how to make a lesson interesting, relevant, well-paced, and accessible to English language learners and advanced students at the same time is a great brain teaser. I love the challenge.”
Brian Israel (United Kingdom, 2003-04) works for the State Department as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Legal Adviser for Oceans, International Environmental Law and Science. This became his “dream job” while studying international law (which he now teaches in the evenings) at the University of Bristol as a Borton Scholar.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) is living and working in East Java, Indonesia as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English to both students and teachers. She writes that she has changed and grown a lot since her year abroad in Spain but that one thing remains the same: “My love for travel, for new cultures, for challenges that come when put into uncomfortable and strange situations. They say that ‘Peace Corps is the toughest job you’ll ever love’ and I’m finding it to be true.”
Ellen Holloway (Spain 2001-2002) is working in a small two lawyer office in Rancho Cordova doing probate and estate litigation. She lives in an apartment in Sacramento. Ellen and Jenna Carlsson met at Ray and Verena's 50th wedding anniversary last summer.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its fourteenth year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 38 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in Austria, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site.
A Newsweek article from July highlighted the connection between living abroad and creativity. The article cited a study by Northwestern’s Adam Galinsky showing that “those who have lived abroad outperform others on creativity tasks.” The theory is that cross-cultural experiences “force people to adapt and be more flexible.” Whether it is finding accommodations, navigating public transportation, tasting new foods, interacting with the locals or integrating into a new university environment, anecdotal evidence from CBMSF recipients studying abroad confirms this view. The scholarships we are able to offer with your continued support have changed the lives of the recipients in ways that they are now passing on to the next generation. Andrea Martinez (Mexico 1999-2000) wrote this year to express her gratitude for the program’s “ongoing commitment to ensuring that students…find the joy and love for learning through study abroad” and let us know that “the seed you planted years ago has given fruit here in my community as I recently took 32 students to Spain to study abroad. It was wonderful!”
Tamar Freeland, a Communications major with a minor in Spanish Literature, is studying at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. She describes herself as a student, a sister, a barrista, a hopeful realist, and a bad joke-teller. Based on her visit with Ray and Verena in Davis they would add that she is also a delightful conversationalist. Tamar wrote that she is “looking forward to this experience as an opportunity to become fluent in Spanish, travel throughout Europe, gain a more worldwide perspective, and completely immerse myself in a new culture.” One way Tamar prepared for her year abroad was by living in the International House at UCSD, because she “knew that meeting and befriending international students would not only be a great cultural opportunity here, but would come in handy when I travel to other countries.” Her first impression of Barcelona from the airplane was that “the Mediterranean Sea wasn’t as blue as I was expecting, and that all of the houses had red roofs.” After two weeks of searching, she found a comfortable and affordable apartment with 3 other girls—two from San Sebastian in the Basque Country and the other from Athens. She seems well on her way to achieving the goals she laid out in her Statement of Purpose: to “grow more mature and self-confident in my abilities to live autonomously as a young adult.”
Jonathan Nelson is a Chemistry major studying at the University of Vienna in Austria. He decided on the Chemistry major during a research internship in the total synthesis lab at the Scripps Institute at UCSD. His advisor at Scripps, Dr. Phillip Baran, introduced him to Dr. Johann Mulzer at the University of Vienna with whom he is working on a research project during his time in Vienna. He writes that this “will give me the opportunity of having worked with well-known professors in the Chemistry field at two internationally renowned institutions, which in turn will be helpful when pursuing graduate studies.” Jonathan was raised in a bi-cultural home with an American father and a mother who grew up in Austria. His aunts and their families live in Vienna and he spent more than a month prior to starting his studies traveling and visiting with family. Jonathan is pictured above during one such trip, hiking near the town of Schladming in the Austrian Alps. These experiences will help Jonathan to accomplish his goal of “learning more about the culture of my heritage and getting to know the Austrian side of my family.”
A third year student majoring in human biology, Yoshie Yamamoto is studying at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. During her year there, Yoshie will be participating in biological research in addition to “taking advantage of the opportunity to take Japanese language classes in order to attain fluency in reading and writing.” Although Yoshie has visited Japan in the past with her family, she writes that during her year abroad she “wishes to experience Japan with the intention of learning about the deep-engraved history of Japan while reconnecting with her ancestral past.” After a six week intensive language program in Tokyo during the summer she was able to visit a grandmother and aunt in Yamaguchi Prefecture and another aunt in Fukuoko Prefecture. She believes that, “One year is enough for me to completely engross myself in the sights and sounds of Japan, as a resident of Japan rather than as a tourist.” Yoshie is doing research in a laboratory focused on the developmental biology of limbs. She writes that she is conducting a variety of experiments through which she is “trying to see how a limb bud develops into mature fingers/toes/limbs.” After graduating from UCSD, Yoshie plans to attend veterinary school and hopes one day to have her own private veterinary practice.
Alexandra DeLaney (Denmark, 2009-10) wrote upon her return that “what surprised me, however, was how much I learned about and from people instead of from my syllabus.” Her goal was to integrate seamlessly, to dress like a Danish person, communicate with them, to be like them. She writes that her “intense need to understand as an outsider provided me with a unique perspective on people that I had never had before.” She was impressed with how welcoming the Danish students were while she went through a variety of life experiences and she keeps “in contact with some directly, and the others still silently affect me below the surface, because they changed my attitudes and perspectives in an entirely surprising way.” She writes that, “I will never forget the things I saw and did or stop being grateful for the opportunity to live for a year, to reinvent myself, and to come one step closer to being a better person.
Hanna Rahimi (Spain, 2009-10) found herself apologizing to those who asked her to describe her experiences abroad for responding with descriptions that sounded like clichés to her. But she quickly realized that “though the words I use to describe these feelings can sound faded and over-used, the feelings themselves are indeed original and novel because they are mine alone, they are not transferable through speech, through reading, or even through pictures, but only can be gained through personal experiences.” Looking back, she highlighted the importance of staying abroad for a full year. After the first semester she had achieved a “comprehensive understanding of Granada from a traveler’s point of view.” Hanna writes that by the end of the year, “I did not just feel like I understood the culture and the city and the people there, I felt like I was a part of it. The cobbled stones that had charmed me at the beginning became streets that I proudly walked with a sense of ownership and belonging, the once intriguing sights and smells of Granada were now signs of home and comfort.” One of her favorite words in Spanish is imprescindible, which means essential. That is how Hanna felt about her year abroad: “It has been imprescindible to who I am now and who I want to be.”
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) finished a fellowship at CaliforniaVolunteers, the State Agency on Service and Volunteering, through the Sacramento State Capital Fellows Program. She is now an Analyst at the State Treasurer’s Office, where she helps allocate federal and state tax credits for affordable housing projects in California. In October, Nicola spoke eloquently on the topic of gender equality and empowerment of women in a United Nations Day program on the Millennium Development Goals organized by the Davis chapter of the United Nations Association.
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) is working towards putting his experiences abroad to work as he finishes a graduate degree in Education before pursuing a career as a teacher. He writes that his experiences abroad “have impacted my views on effective teaching, intercultural teaching and equity of education.” His time abroad allowed him “to learn and reflect upon myself as a person and as a productive member of the global village.”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) is waiting to hear where the Peace Crops will assign her. Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) is living in Washington D.C. and working for the lobbying organization for Public TV.
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal 2005-06) stays in touch during her travels. Her latest message was a card from Nicaragua.
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens and in doing so honor and remember Chris,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its thirteenth year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 35 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in China, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site.
According to a survey conducted by the Forum on Education Abroad regarding the impact of the global economic crisis, 66 percent of the 155 university respondents were negatively impacted in the past year. Student scholarships were one of the areas identified as the most likely to have budgets slashed. The scholarships we are able to offer with your continued support are thus all the more important. A second trend identified in the survey was an increase in the number of students engaging in shorter term (summer or one semester) programs rather than full year programs. The scholarships we give are to students going abroad for an entire academic year, reflecting our belief that true “immersion” is more likely to occur over a full year—a sentiment echoed by returning Borton scholars. Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) quite eloquently wrote, “An abroad student who arrives in a foreign land knowing she will live there for at least twelve months approaches with great brevity the struggles of adjustment and the joys of finding meaning in a different lifestyle and reality; students who know they will only stick around for six months or less feel exponentially less pressure to engage, understand, and adopt the rhythms of local life in a deep way. In the end, I think it is the emotional commitment required in a full year abroad which gives rise to the intuitions we need in this generation of professionals, teachers, and political leaders.” Similarly, Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) wrote that students should be encouraged to study abroad for a year in order “to fully immerse themselves in the new culture….endeavor to understand, to know another people and their culture, and in turn to respect and appreciate the differences and similarities.”
Current Scholarship Recipients
Cindy Bao, a Literatures of the World major with a minor in Chinese Studies, is studying at Peking University where she is taking courses in Chinese Literature. To prepare for her time at Peking University, she spent the summer in Beijing Normal University’s intense Mandarin course for American students. Cindy had her first experience of living in China through participation in the Legends of the Silk Road program in 2008. Through spending a full year immersed in Chinese culture, she hopes “to restore my disappearing connection to my cultural heritage” as well as find and secure her identity and “gain the understanding, wisdom and grace of the culture of my motherhood.” On her first morning in Beijing, Cindy discovered small eateries and bought thirty dumplings; on the second day, a group of EAP students got lost and were happy to end up in “hutongs,” or traditional residential areas.
A Composite Literature major in Spanish and English Literatures, Hanna Rahimi wrote in her application that “moving to Spain will help me further develop my sense of self, give me the opportunity to see new parts of the world, new ways of life, and new ways of thinking.” Hanna’s minor in music is grounded in her love of singing. In four years of high school she sang in fourteen different choirs, ranging from school choirs to community choirs to jazz ensembles. At UCSD she was a member of an all female a cappella group and the La Jolla Symphony Chorus. Hanna felt that “staying abroad for the year, rather than a shorter trip, will allow me to go beyond the blatant differences and discover the more subtle aspects of the culture that cannot be seen in a few months. Instead of being a visitor to the country, I will have the chance to be a part of it, to feel at home in a new and wonderful place.” Ray and Verena were fortunate enough to host Hanna for an afternoon in Davis prior to her departure for Spain. Since arriving in Spain, Hanna has explored Granada and its environs, hiking in the mountains around the city and loving the fact that everything in Granada is accessible on foot and the city is full of life at night. She posts detailed descriptions of her experiences on a blog, from the classroom to tourist trips to Barcelona and the beach. Early on, she noted that the most interesting difference between Spanish and American culture was the fact that time in Spain is “of no consequence, everything we do is at our leisure.”
Alexandra Delaney, a Physiology and Neuroscience major and Biology minor, is studying at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She has a clear vision of her academic goals: “I knew I wanted to be a scientist when I unlocked the mysteries of Jell-O at age five and as I grew older I decided a career in medicine and research was the best way to synthesize my interest in biology with international collaboration.” She decided Denmark would be the ideal location for her study abroad because the University of Copenhagen has an internationally recognized neuroscience PhD program and she hopes to work with an investigator in the neuroscience graduate program. In accepting the scholarship, Alexandra wrote: “I feel fortunate and immensely grateful. I hope I can live up to the legacy of all the previous applicants, and most importantly, Chris.” Reflecting on her upcoming year in Copenhagen, she said: “I do not know how I am going to be changed or what I will experience, but I know something remarkable is going to come of it. Study abroad will not be just another academic experience, it will be a transformation in lifestyle and attitude that will impact me for years to come. I will not waste this gift.” In July, Ray and Verena were pleased to welcome Alexandra to Davis and spend some hours in conversation with her. In Copenhagen she lives in a single room on a hallway where she shares a kitchen with 22 other students. “It’s like a big family and we all share chores and cooking.” To celebrate the end of exams in late October, Alexandra was planning to introduce her “family” to pumpkin pie. She enjoys biking around Copenhagen and practicing her Danish. While on a trip to Paris she spoke Danish so the French wouldn’t know she was an American. She is looking forward to witnessing history in the making when world leaders descend on Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference in December.
Hearts and Scholars Dinner
In February, Ray, Verena and Ben made a trip to San Diego to attend UCSD’s Hearts and Scholars Dinner. This annual event brings together scholarship recipients and donors. We were joined at dinner by all Borton scholars still on campus — Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08), Emilie Ellis (Germany, 2007-08), and Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07). One of the high points of the event was when a series of statements about the impact of undergraduate scholarships on recipients were presented. A student read the impact portion and an alumna read the “what I am doing now” part. The final reading was a statement from Borton scholar Joachim Lyon that highlighted the emotional impact of receiving a scholarship: “Getting a scholarship, no matter how small, tangibly says: We think you are worthwhile; we think your efforts mean something; we take seriously what you are working on and we hope you too continue to take it seriously; we believe in you.” The reading resulted in a lot of discussion at our table, and we discovered that the merit-based Borton scholarship was the first received by other recipients and had the very same confidence-building effect. The following morning we met Kim Burton, Director of the Programs Abroad office, and discussed various aspects of the scholarship application and selection process. Kim’s efforts and input over the years have been invaluable to us.
Memorial Day at “The Land”
Joachim Lyon joined Ray, Verena and Ben in the Santa Cruz mountains on Memorial Day for folk dance weekend at the Land. A significant portion of the Silicon Valley folk music and dance community makes its way to Cliff Jenkins’ beautiful property in the Santa Cruz mountains (known as “the Land”) twice a year for this event. Chris was a regular at folk dance weekend and his memorial, where the scholarship fund in his memory was first announced, was held there. In the picture at right, Joachim is looking at the tile sculpture (with folk dancers on the deck in the background), which displays tiles painted by Chris’ family and friends as a tribute to his inimitable enthusiasm for life.
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars
Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09) wrote in the spring to report that “according to this widget thing on Facebook on which you can track where you’ve been in the world, I have been to exactly 8% of the world….Thank you for allowing me the chances that I’m having to learn about the world and its people. 92% to go!” At Sciences Po, Kipp was hired as a Student Affairs Officer to coordinate logistics for a joint summer program between Sciences Po and Brown University. He also helped with the opening of a new regional campus in Reims focused on Transatlantic Relations. Towards the end of his time in Paris, Kipp was recruited by third-year students at Sciences Po to be the “American” for a French Web Journal and wrote an article for them about the changes and adjustments involved with a year abroad. Kipp sent us a framed photo of the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam because “that bridge to me kind of wrapped up the year….it symbolized the bridges that I’d been able to build and cross to connect with people through the year….and Erasmus being used loosely to mean study abroad.”
Laura Summers (Holland, 2008-09) was able to travel to ten other countries in Europe during her year in Holland. She says that “the best part about all the traveling was that every time we returned to Holland, I felt like it was home.” Her favorite Dutch word is “gezellig,” which can be heard everywhere in Holland but doesn’t have a precise English translation. The closest approximation is “cozy.” She wrote that, “Soon, everything became gezellig. Classrooms, apartments, even the dining hall.” She is planning to return to Holland in the future because “the connections and friendships I made are something I never want to let go of. Thank you again for your support. Without you I would not have been able to go abroad, let alone for a whole year.”
Updates on past Borton Scholars
At the end of her senior year, Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) was given the Provost’s Scholar Award for Eleanor Roosevelt College, the highest academic honor the UCSD colleges bestow upon students. She also worked at the Programs Abroad office during her final year at UCSD. In this capacity, she helped with the France orientation as a returnee and talked with the students going to Lyon in particular. She wrote that, “It was fun, but also made me feel nostalgic for my time abroad…. Fortunately, I will soon be going on a new adventure abroad.” Nicola spent July and August in Sevilla, Spain doing an intensive language program. By the end of her stay, she “felt truly connected to where I was and managed to achieve an amazing level of integration into Sevilano life after just two months.” In October, she started in the California State University Capital Fellows Executive Program. Capital Fellows work in California government for eleven months as salaried employees while also completing a graduate seminar that gives the program a unique academic component.
Brian Israel (England, 2003-04) recently finished his law degree at UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, Brian pursued his passion for international law as Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley Journal of International Law. Brian spent his last semester of law school in Washington DC interning in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the State Department (which he affectionately refers to as “L”) in L’s Office of Human Rights and Refugees. He worked there from January to April and “in April received an offer to join the Office; my dream come true.” He returned to Berkeley for graduation in April, studied for the California Bar exam until August, got engaged, took a quick trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands and then moved back to DC in October to start at L. His first assignment is in the Office of International Claims and Investment Disputes where he is spending the majority of his time on cases pending before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague. Brian writes: “I couldn’t be happier with the way things are coming together. I wanted to share this with you because I am finally practicing public international law, a passion and professional aspiration I discovered while studying abroad with your support.”
Jenna Carlson (Senegal, 2005-06) visited with Ray and Verena in March and gave us an update on the continuation of her international concerns in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jenna has been a loyal visitor—this was her third time coming to the Borton home in Davis!
Alice Wagner (Scotland, 2004-05) is currently living in San Diego and working in her former major field of study, biology. She works for a small biotech company in research and development. In the coming years she hopes to attend graduate school and would like to enter the teaching profession. In a recent e-mail she recalled some of the changes and challenges she faced as a student abroad. “But with all these changes and challenges, I grew a lot. It’s become a time for me that I can look back on and say: if I can handle that, I can handle anything that is on my plate now.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its twelfth year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 32 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain.
According to the annual report of the Institute on International Education, 241,791 Americans studied abroad in 2006-07 and 623,805 students from around the world studied in the United States. These numbers are up substantially from a decade earlier and we are happy that the scholarships awarded annually by the CBMSF contribute to the trend by creating opportunities for individual students to experience and interact with other cultures, while also honoring the memory of Chris’ lifelong involvement with the international community. We feel that immersion in another culture will be a vital experience for future leaders and participants in the international scene. The scholarships are awarded to students studying abroad for a full academic year, as we believe that is the minimum time needed to achieve immersion. Due to your continued support we were able to increase the amount of the scholarships for 2008 to $5,000. Several of the students who have been awarded our scholarships would not have been able to afford to study abroad without financial aid. Your generosity is the catalyst that allows us to create opportunities for high caliber students with a commitment to the global community.
Kipp Trieu, a Communications major with minors in French Literature and Education Studies who wants to become a teacher, is studying at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (known as Sciences Po). He captured the spirit of the scholarship program when he wrote in his application that he desired to be an exchange student “both in the sense of being a student studying abroad and in the sense of being a well-educated, well-rounded student of the international arena.” Kipp is taking courses covering topics that include an introduction to a globalized attitude; the socio-political elements of decentralization and democracy; society and media; French opera as a political art form; and a French language course. He highlights that all of the courses are taught from the French perspective. In addition to his academic work, Kipp is an accomplished pianist and enjoys cooking, eating and photography. Ray and Verena were excited to be able to host him in Davis, including a trip to the Farmers Market, before he left for Paris. At Sciences Po, Kipp has been hired as an intern (vacataire) at the Center of the Americas, the office that handles incoming and outgoing exchange students to North and South America. In addition to gainful employment, his position as a “study abroad advisor” is allowing him to help coach French students wishing to go abroad. Kipp writes that, “Most French people, or those I’ve seen and met, don’t have pencil thin moustaches. Or eat frog legs every meal. Most of them, anyway. The point: the only way to know how something is is to see it for yourself.”
Laura Summers, a Linguistics major with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies, is attending Universiteit College in Utrecht. She has studied Muslim immigration into the European Union and wants to pursue a career aiding Muslim immigrants adapt to their new lives in Western nations. Laura has already taken a volunteer job in Utrecht working with five refugee women (from places like Togo and Albania) and their children. In San Diego, Laura lived and worked at the International House fulfilling a desire to meet international students and scholars and learn about their cultures. She also sang in a choir and likes to play intramural volleyball. Since arriving in Holland, Laura has enjoyed visiting relatives in Middelburg, and traveling to Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Prague with a group of other exchange students. She had great things to say about the efficiency of the rail system, but was happy to be back on a bike in Utrecht upon her return. Laura writes that “it wouldn’t be a truly Dutch experience without biking to town in the rain.” She is taking courses in Linguistics, Art History, Dutch, and Development Studies. The latter involves discussing the geographical development of nations and its social and economic impact. She is looking forward to the special Dutch St. Nicholas holiday when she will sing the Dutch song “Sinterklaas Kapoentje” that her grandmother taught her as a child.
A double major in Studio Art and Art History, Ruth Salazar selected Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in order to get involved in the city’s rich art heritage and vibrant art community. Ruth enjoys painting, drawing and creating art from found objects. She has also played violin in orchestras, sung in a choir and enjoys playing guitar. As part of a summer 2005 German-American exchange program, Ruth visited a town in northern Germany named Elmshorn. This experience solidified her interest in learning about other cultures. Prior to her departure Ruth wrote, “Ever since that visit to Germany, I’ve been wanting to go abroad again. I’ve been working towards this goal, and am happy that it is finally going to happen. I really think this experience will truly help me grow as an artist, a student, and a person. Many people tell me that I will definitely change after this experience, but I don’t view it as a change so much as an expansion of who I am.” Ruth had a chance to visit Sweden and Norway before starting classes. She has also been in contact with fellow Berliner and former Borton-scholar Yukio King (Germany, 2000-01). Her course load involves a variety of different art classes, but her favorite course thus far is called Aktuelle Kunst, which involves trips to galleries and museums and discussions of the art viewed. Ruth e-mails that, “I love encountering new things…it can be a challenge in many ways, but I feel like a greater person for it in the end.”
Updates on recently returned Borton Scholars
Emilie Ellis (Germany, 2007-08) loved being able to ride her bike to town every day and to see the vast green forests (of the Black Forest). She found that studying at the Albert-Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg differed from UCSD: it required a greater amount of self motivation and was much less stressful. The single experience that made the biggest impression on Emilie was her internship in the Information Service of the United Nations Office in Geneva. Reflecting on the year, Emilie writes: “I have learned a lot more about myself and what I’m capable of accomplishing. Being able to come here to live…was one of the most wonderful, enriching, and memorable experiences of my life. It has definitely inspired me to think more globally, and if I could choose to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.”
Nicola Hil (France, 2007-08) found herself immersed in French culture as soon as she arrived in Lyon to locate lodging. “Finding housing is difficult and not fun. However, it is a fantastic way to get to know the city you have arrived in. You are instantly forced to take public transportation, get comfortable in internet cafés, communicate with people and learn about banking, laws, and culture.” Toward the end of an academically very worthwhile year, Nicola started to think in French and “during my last few exams of the year I forgot that I was an international student and just wrote as feverishly as the other students to get my ideas down in the allotted time.”
Traveling around Europe on her own has made her much more confident when dealing with challenging situations. “The confidence you placed in me often helped me to move past the difficult aspects of moving overseas.” Upon her return to UCSD, Nicola was offered a position as a student assistant at the Programs Abroad Office, a helpful step in her plans to choose a career in consulting and advising in international affairs.
Updates on past Borton Scholars
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) completed her work with refugees through the International Rescue Committee before becoming involved with the Obama campaign, canvassing in swing states through the Fund for the Public Interest.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) graduated and immediately started on her teaching credential (with bilingual certification) and M.Ed. in the UCSD Education Studies program. Missing her life in Mexico and Spain, she reports that it was at first difficult to adjust back to life in the US. She adds: “I am so glad that more and more students study abroad and become culturally aware. Living abroad opens so many doors…I know it did for me.”
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) graduated and spent the summer in an internship before starting graduate school in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. When hearing where this year’s Borton Scholars were headed, he commented “It’s so neat to be able to say that I visited all of those places.”
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) finished his Masters in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in August and embarked on a 5-year PhD program at Stanford University in September. In the Centre for Work, Technology, & Organization under the School of Engineering, he will work with industrial sociologists and social psychologists to understand the interaction between technology and organizations. Joachim’s interest is in using ethnographic methods to see how people share knowledge, get coordinated, solve problems, and interact with their environments, and ultimately to link this research to design theory.
A Thank You
The best feedback we get on the success of the scholarship program comes from the recipients themselves, and we want to share that with you who make it possible. At the end of her stay abroad one recipient wrote, “I really do want to reiterate how thankful I am to you and the donors – this year has been the experience of a lifetime, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of your family and friends!” Nicola Hil wrote to tell us, “I have come to understand and appreciate Chris’ love for travel and his interest in international exchange.”
Thanks to all of you who enable us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become world citizens,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its eleventh year and with the addition of the current three recipients, 29 UC San Diego students have benefited from your generous contributions. They have pursued international study at universities in China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, and Spain. For up to date details see the Fund web site.
Based on a recent survey from the Forum on Education Abroad, the number of students studying abroad is double what it was 8 years ago. This statistic suggests that a greater number of people are coming to share our view that study abroad is a powerful tool for improving cultural understanding and broadening student’s world views. In addition, legislation has been introduced that would send 1 million students abroad (5 times the current number), with a focus on developing countries. The bill would increase participation in study abroad programs as well as diversifying destinations away from the historically heavy concentration on Western Europe. We agree with the bill’s co-sponsor, Tom Lantos when he calls it one of the most significant avenues for making the United States more culturally sensitive.
The scholarships awarded annually by the CBMSF similarly aim to create opportunities for individual students to experience and interact with other cultures, while also honoring the memory of Chris’ lifelong involvement with the international community. The scholarships are awarded to students studying abroad for a full academic year, as we believe that is the minimum time needed to achieve immersion. While we are pleased with the evidence of greater attention being paid to the importance of opportunities for international study, there are still many challenges for students to face, including increasing costs. Due to your continued generous support, we were able to increase the size of each scholarship by 25% this year. The increase was timely, as a weakening dollar has been a major factor in driving up the cost of studying abroad.
Emilie Ellis is a double major in Anthropology and International Studies-Linguistics. Going abroad was a logical choice for her because she feels that “an essential component of Anthropology is getting the native’s point of view by living with people for an extended period of time.” During her year in Freiburg at the Albert-Luwigs-Universität, Emilie expects to get a taste of what fieldwork is all about. One of her ambitions is to use the anthropological research methods she is studying to improve aid programs for health, poverty and education in developing countries. In San Diego, Emilie lived in International House and was involved in I-House efforts to help the local community in San Diego and across the border.
This summer, Emilie traveled to Tanzania as a volunteer for the Arusha Project, which spreads HIV/AIDS awareness and supports gender equality. In Tanzania she taught English to children in an AIDS orphanage. Since leaving for Europe in late August, Emilie has been able to travel to Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, and within Germany to Berlin and Münich.
Nicola Hil wrote in her application that she has a “goal to have an international career and life.” We think she is well on her way: she was born in Britain, moved to California during childhood, lived in and volunteered for the International House at UC San Diego and is spending the current year studying Political Science at Institut d’Études Politiques (IEP) Lyon and Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France. Ray and Verena has a wonderful time meeting Nicola in August in her hometown of Livermore prior to her departure for France. She is acclimating to Lyon and writes that, “The area is beautiful with medieval churches and buildings and cobblestones along the streets.” She also reports that the independent research project she undertook the prior year at UC San Diego on the impact of French and European legislation on the rights of immigrant populations has provided a very relevant backdrop for her studies in Lyon. A musician, Nicola bought a trumpet (“a reliable English model”) and is looking for French students with whom to form a brass quintet. She has been able to travel to Telford, Strasbourg, Avignon, Grenoble, Cerdon and Geneva thus far and has plans to visit her grandparents in England over the holidays.
Updates on some past “Borton Scholars:
Jenny Chang (U.K., 1997-98), our very first scholarship recipient, recently got married (see picture on right) and is about to complete her PhD.
Mark Morris (Ghana, 1998-99) sends us regular updates about his San Francisco design company (TURK+TAYLOR) and exhibits of his innovative art work.
Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) got married last summer.
Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) graduated from law school in May. She is working at the Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston. She e-mails that she likes the work and that it is a non-profit with a focus on work-life balance.
Brian Israel (UK, 2003-04) transferred from Washington, DC to UC Berkeley Law School in August. Despite a heavy course load, he is also working with the Public International Law and Policy Group providing free legal assistance to Nepal and Liberia.
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05) is now in Scotland, pursuing a one-year Masters in Philosophy (Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition) at the University of Edinburgh. Having received a prestigious Jack Kent Cook postgraduate scholarship for up to six years, this is just a first step. Joachim writes: “I mentioned the Borton grant in my most difficult JKC essay response, where I commented on the dreams I had expressed in my small application to your foundation, and the ways in which I had realized those dreams during my study abroad.”
Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) graduated in June and has been working as an Americorps VISTA at the International Rescue Committee in San Diego in a home visiting program called Families Connect that helps recent refugees to get settled in the U.S.
Jennifer Kim (Spain, 2006-07) was very excited to experience snow falling on her head for the first time ever last January in Granada.
Halley Henscey (Italy, 2006-07) wrote in February that she was “finally used to so many hours of lecture in Italian…Going out with friends from class is fun because we have to speak in Italian, and we’re all from different countries – in a class of 15 students we usually represent about 13 countries.”
Paul Suarez (Spain, 2006-07) commented on some of his reactions after returning to San Diego: “The first kind of oddity was that everybody spoke English, and the money was so strange and foreign, not to mention bland…In terms of scheduling, being able to go to a grocery store at 10 p.m. but not a restaurant was just all backwards from my Madrileño experience…The lack of a great Metro system has been very hard and I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it…I’ve felt a lot more self confident since returning…Every once in a while I look at my photos…and get really homesick for Madrid.”
Thanks to all of you that make it possible for us to support the efforts of these remarkable young people to become global citizens,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund (CBMSF) is now in its tenth year and the addition of the current four recipients studying in Mexico, Spain, England and Italy brings the total number of UC San Diego students who have benefited from your generous contributions to 26. Their destinations for international study have included universities in China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Senegal, Spain and the United Kingdom. This year we solved the problem of a virtual tie between two deserving candidates by opting to send both. Only later did we realize that in doing so we were celebrating the “Year of Study Abroad” as declared by the United States Congress.
The scholarships awarded annually by the CBMSF create opportunities for students to go abroad while also honoring the memory of Chris’ lifelong involvement with the international community. Our four students are among what the Institute of International Education estimates are some 190,000 American students studying abroad this year. While this is an admirable number, it is only 1% of all undergraduates. A recent study by IIEPassport.org and StudyAbroad.com revealed that a larger percentage wants to go, but students are scared away more by the potential cost than concerns about speaking the language or transferring academic credits. We are pleased to be able to help create opportunities for young people to experience cultural differences first hand and to view U.S. society from an international perspective. With the help of your generous contributions, we are able to play a small part in remedying what lawmakers have termed “a serious deficit in global competence in the United States.” We hope to help achieve a federal lawmakers’ goal of sending an additional 1 million American students to study in a foreign country in the next ten years, as stated in a resolution passed in November of 2005.
In her scholarship application, Halley Henscey wrote that her passions are language, art and human interaction and that she has a strong, visceral attraction to the Italian culture. We heard more about her aspirations when we met during the summer. At the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy, Halley is becoming fluent in Italian to the point where she will soon be taking classes at the Università per Stranieri, completely in Italian. She is gaining new understanding of her goals and place in the global community as an International Studies major, and most of all, having a marvelous time immersing herself in Italian culture. Between Halley’s descriptions of Etruscan arches, Tuscan vineyards and highlights of her trip to Prague, Amsterdam and London during fall break she has observed that “Having a functional computer does not contribute to my greater happiness” and “If you walk more slowly, you’ll feel better when you get where you’re going.” In early August, Ray, Verena and son Ben (himself a UCSB graduate participating in the EAP program in 1994-95 in the United Kingdom) spent a long and lively afternoon getting acquainted with Halley and her dad Michael.
Jennifer Kim’s major is Literatures in English; her goal is to obtain a credential to teach literature in a bilingual classroom, instilling in her students the love of literature that is so central to her life. As a youngster, Jennifer lived in Argentina—an experience that left a lasting impression on her in terms of her awareness of other cultures and her desire to become fluent in Spanish. She writes that, “The language is beautiful and I do want to perfect it.” To this end Jennifer spent the summer months working on her Spanish in Morelia, Mexico, living with a local family and learning about Mexican culture while teaching her hosts about her own background. In Morelia she missed Korean food, but as soon as she arrived in Granada, Spain she missed Mexican food! Life in Granada, surrounded by large numbers of international students, has made Jennifer aware of how insulated from world affairs she had tended to be prior to this experience. “One subject that keeps coming up and keeps me thinking is anti-Americanism. I never realized how strong and real it was until I got here. Listening to another’s perspective on the American lifestyle is rather startling and harsh at times.” Jennifer was happy to report that a German student said to her in Spanish: ”I don’t usually like Americans, but you’re different and I like you.”
Paul Suarez combines a major in Bioengineering with a minor in Spanish Literature and a love of music. During his year at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Paul hopes to achieve mastery in Spanish and gain a broader perspective—expecting to learn as much about himself as about the culture and customs of Spain. Becoming fluent in Spanish has been a dream of his as long as he can remember and he looks forward to finally being able to communicate with his relatives in El Salvador. Besides literature classes, Paul is taking a course on Religious Forces and International Society that involves discussions by a very “multinational” group of students. So as not to lose touch with his engineering field he is searching for an internship. Trips to Portugal and Bunol have provided a change of pace, as did visits to various museums in Madrid. Paul has noticed that there are as many people out in the streets at 4 a.m. as there are at 4 p.m. and comments that “you can’t throw something in any direction without hitting either a bar or a pharmacy.”
Sarah Zaides is a first generation Russian immigrant who is majoring in History with a particular focus on the study of Race, Ethnicity and Immigration. In order to study these issues in a global and comparative context, Sarah applied to and was accepted for a year at the Butler Institute for Study Abroad at Oxford University’s St. Catherine’s College. Sarah reports that she has “never, ever, worked this hard” in her life. Her tutorials are on Indian and Irish history, requiring two papers every week. There are no lectures. “Instead, my tutors assign a weekly reading list, usually about twelve texts, and I take off for the Bodleain (where Marx studied) to read the texts and write a paper.” On another subject: “The ritual here is very charming, although sometimes too patriarchal for my taste. The dining hall looks like something out of Harry Potter (not surprising since it was filmed here). We sit at long tables and are served 3 – course meals. The faculty sits at the head tables, and when they enter (wearing black robes, of course) we stand, wait for them to reach their seats, and then the master slams down a gavel and says a prayer in Latin!” While these studies also fit in well with Sarah’s minor, Literature, she is not likely to be able to indulge her pastimes of equestrian competition, surfing and snowboarding this year – but perhaps she will be able to find a piano somewhere (as Achim Lyon did in Beijing).
In May we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the founding of the scholarship program by organizing a short gathering at “The Land,” a folk dance deck in the Santa Cruz Mountains where Chris enjoyed many happy times amongst an internationally diverse group of musical friends. For this occasion we invited the scholarship recipients to write a short statement about how the experience of studying abroad has impacted them as seen from their current vantage point. These “Reflections” were reproduced and selections were read during the observance. Scholarship recipients Brian Israel (England, 2003-04) and Julia Carter (Egypt, 2002-03) were able to join us for the occasion and to comment in person on the way their year abroad has influenced their thinking. We have made the entire collection available, along with other updates and previous letters, on the CBMSF web site. Please contact us if you cannot access the Reflections online; we would be happy to send a hard copy. The collected impressions give us a very personal illustration of the value of making it possible for students to live, study and travel abroad.
Updates on other scholarship recipients: Last February we had a delightful surprise visit from Joanna Itoh, mother of Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01), who was attending a program on international education at UC Davis. In April we had dinner with Jenny Chang (UK, 1997-98) and her parents while she was on a short break from her PhD research in Seattle. The picture of Jenny at right is from that dinner. Julia Carter and Brian Israel gave wonderful examples of their study abroad experience at the commemorative gathering in May and Julia did some house sitting for Joan and Dolf later in the summer. In July we reconnected with Austin Leininger (Scotland, 1998-99) when he and his wife Jane moved to Davis. The happy couple is pictured below in Ray and Verena’s atrium. In late August, just before returning to UCSD, Jenna Carlsson (Senegal, 2005-06) regaled us with stories and visuals of her life in Senegal. The Reflections serve as updates on the lives of these and other past scholarship recipients.
Former scholarship recipient Achim Lyon (China, 2004-05) shared with us a poem called Dreams of Dr. Seuss. We will close with a verse from that poem that captures the spirit of the program:
I’ve heard there are places that you can go,
For those who reckon there are things to know,
They aren’t too close—but I wouldn’t say far,
You certainly can’t get there by bus or by car;
And when you’ve arrived at these places, I’m told,
Your journey has typically just begun to unfold.
Achim Lyon
Thanks to all of you that help us make new journeys possible,
Dear Contributors,
The Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund is now in its ninth year and the current trio of recipients studying in Senegal, Egypt and Italy brings the total number of UC San Diego students benefiting from your generous contributions to 22. Their destinations for international study have included universities in China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Our three students are among what the New York Times reports are some 191,000 American students studying abroad this year. We are pleased to be able to help create opportunities for young people to experience cultural differences first hand and to view U.S. society from an international perspective – these scholarships provide just such opportunities while also honoring the memory of Chris’ lifelong engagement with the international scene.
Jenna Carlsson, a third year student in Sociology with a minor in African Studies who was fluent in French and eager to immerse herself in a completely different culture, chose to study at the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal in a program administered by the University of Wisconsin. Jenna anticipated that a year in Senegal would help her to gain communication skills (in both French and Wolof), patience and a more worldly perspective. Before departing for orientation in Dakar in October, Jenna visited Davis on two occasions. We had a wonderful time getting acquainted and exchanging thoughts. This is one of the first observations she shared after arrival in Africa: “White Americans who believe race doesn’t matter should put themselves in a situation where 99% of the people around them are black. I would predict they would feel much more uncomfortable and different than they think they would. Yes, race does matter.”
Tamami Komatsu is spending her third year as a pre-med International Studies major studying Literature and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna. In accepting the scholarship, she wrote: “Thank you so very much for assisting me in my efforts to become a world citizen – I only wish I could express how much I really appreciate this act of benevolence.” Tamami is very excited about developing an international perspective, independence and a foundation for her later humanitarian work. She has a deep concern for the health crisis in Africa and eventually hopes to work for Doctors Without Borders. After a few weeks of intensive language training in Rome, Tamami wrote: “I miss home a lot more than I thought I would and Italy is lot different than I expected. I love how much I’m already learning and I already feel different than when I came.”
Marilyn Shapley is a fourth year International Studies and Literature major with a secondary focus on political science. At the American University in Cairo she is able to study policies and literature of the Middle East in preparation for a regional specialization in her planned career as a Foreign Service officer in the U.S. State Department. When visiting with Marilyn last summer, we learned of her great interest in Egyptology, her concern about the current situation of Sudanese refugees, and her eagerness to learn how to communicate thoughtfully in an international setting. A few weeks later she was ecstatic about her first visit to see pyramids, starting to teach English to refugees, discussing the Egyptian election with local students and practicing colloquial Arabic in the marketplace. Some of Marilyn’s courses deal with developing durable peace and stability in war-torn countries, Third World Literature and forced migration and refugee studies. When trying out for the Cairo Model UN club, she had to role play as Saudi Arabia and with two minutes to prepare had to defend her country’s record of religious freedom. Marilyn’s comment: “It was valuable to walk away and realize that there are two sides to every story, and the truth is never as cut and dry as we think.”
Besides visiting with Jenna and Marilyn who live in Northern California, we also had a chance to meet with several other scholarship recipients. Early in the year we attended a reception in honor of the marriage of Yukio King (Germany 2000-01) and Anja King who came from Berlin for the occasion. Yukio met Anja when he was studying in Germany. In May we were guests of Shige Itoh (Japan, 2000-01) as he graduated from Boalt Law School in Berkeley. The elated graduate is pictured below. In June we celebrated Brian Israel’s (U.K., 2003-04) graduation from UCSD. In August we met Brian and Achim Lyon (China, 2004-05) at Chris’ favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Berkeley, just days after Achim had returned from Beijing. A picture of Brian and Achim that night is below. Ellen Holloway (Spain, 2001-02) was in Davis over the summer, but we only managed to run into each other in the grocery store.
Updates on other scholarship recipients: Jenny Chang (U.K., 1997-98) is continuing the research for her doctoral dissertation at the University of Washington; Mark Morris (Ghana, 1998-99) is launching a line of designer t-shirts from his home base in San Francisco; Julia Carter (Egypt, 2002-03) took a world trip after her graduation and has shared marvelous descriptions of all she saw and did; Marisol Gutiérrez (Mexico, 2003-04) graduated from UCSD; Alice Wagner (Scotland, 2004-05) and Henrick Shyu (Japan, 2004-05) returned last summer (unfortunately we couldn’t find a convenient time to get together) and are back at UCSD, Henrick in graduate school; Jonathan Wang (Japan, 2003-04) added Japanese Studies as a second major and will graduate next March, and Ben Winkler-McCue (Spain, 2001-02) built a house in Hawaii and now is a teaching assistant at UCSD.
A news story about the scholarship fund appeared in the Davis Enterprise this year. It can be viewed, along with other updates and previous letters, on the CBMSF web site. One of the responses to the article we received was a donation with the remark: “Wow! This is something I’d like to be a part of.”
We will close with what we thought were particularly touching words from former scholarship recipient Ben Winkler-McCue: “What you are doing through your scholarship program is quite admirable. The more one is able to travel and gain new perspectives, the more one is humbled. I only hope that some of us can affect the direction our country is going. Thanks for your continued support.”
We share those thanks with all of you who have made this project possible.
