A Bemidji State University junior has won a $1,500 grant from the Council on International Educational Exchange to help finance a fall 2014 study-abroad trip to Spain.
Shelby Andrist, a math education major from Coleraine, Minn., received an Alumni Ambassador Grant to help finance her semester at the Teaching Development program at the CIEE Study Center in Seville, Spain.
The Teaching Development program is designed exclusively for future language teachers and education majors, giving participants a background in pedagogy and valuable hands-on experience teaching English in an international and multilingual environment.
“I should come back bilingual in Spanish,” Andrist said. “Someday, I want to teach in a bilingual classroom, and hopefully help students coming in that speak Spanish and are put into these classes and have difficulty communicating.”
Andrist will teach a language class in a local school and be immersed in the local community through a home stay, the CIEE’s Intercambios conversation exchange program with Spanish students and volunteer opportunities. The opportunity also includes cultural activities and excursions throughout Seville and Andalusia, and visits to different language programs and schools in Andalucia and Morocco.
“I’ve always wanted to travel,” said Andrist, who will be making her first trip out of the country. “It has always seemed really exciting and something that is a great experience. People come back changed.”
• To watch a video interview with Shelby, click the image to the right
About CIEE
As the world leader in international education exchange for more than 65 years, the Council on International Educational Exchange is committed to making study abroad available to all students. The CIEE scholarship program is one way CIEE keeps this commitment. Each year, the council awards more than $3 million in scholarships to students across the country to help make an international educational experience a reality.