Studying abroad internationally became a reality for two Anderson University students, thanks to the prestigious but highly competitive Gilman Scholarship.
Receiving the scholarship were Caleb Hunnicut, who traveled to Spain; and Anne Knox “Knoxie” le Roux, who traveled to Italy. With the valuable assistance of the Anderson University Center for Global Engagement, Hunnicut and le Roux were able to receive The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship to make the trip a reality. The national scholarship for Pell-eligible students literally opens the doors of the world in ways otherwise not possible.
Hunnicut immersed himself in Spanish culture while staying with a host family.
“Something that I really loved is honestly just getting to interact with people in Spanish and getting to experience what feels like another world, because everything is so different with a new language, new culture, new food—it feels like a fresh start,” said Hunnicut, a Kinesiology major in the Anderson University College of Arts and Sciences.
Taking a course titled “Healthcare in Spain,” Hunnicut learned about the country’s healthcare system, including medical terminology and communicating with patients. He also had a practical internship working with neurodivergent children and doing physical therapy related activity with them at camps he was involved in.
While sightseeing, Hunnicut enjoyed visiting a large cathedral in Cordoba and observing the melding of Christian and Muslim cultures in southern Spain.
“There are a lot of places you can visit that still have all of the different designs of Arabic influence. It’s pretty interesting to go into a cathedral but then still see a lot of the intricate design and artwork from all you typically see in a mosque,” he said.
Hunnicut and another Anderson University student, Ariana Daduica, were joined in Spain by many students from various Christian institutions for the Semester in Spain program.
For le Roux, who traveled to Italy, art has always been an important part of life.
“My grandmother was an artist in South Africa. She would travel a lot and was always saying we need to go to Europe and France and Italy and we need to see these things together and sketch and chat about it, which we never ended up getting to do before she passed away,” said le Roux, an Art and Design major in the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University. “It’s been on my bucket list for so many reasons.
Traveling with a group of Anderson University students led by professors Michael Marks and Tim Speaker, le Roux stayed in Florence and traveled to Rome, Siena and Castile Giajo on the coast.
“We’ve been to a lot of churches and have been paying a lot of attention to gravestones and typography that’s been around for since the 1400s for instance, and a lot of that hand lettering and carving,” said le Roux, adding that she’s also taken an interest in in the graffiti and street art scene in Florence. She and others in her group also got to experience behind-the-scenes learning from traditional craftsmen at the Scarpetti Mosaici and the contemporary sculpture studio of Oliviero Draghi.
A congressionally funded program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, the Gilman Scholarship was named after the late congressman Benjamin A. Gilman from New York. The International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000 established the program. Details about the Gilman Scholarship can be found online at www.gilmanscholarship.org.
The Anderson University Center for Global Engagement directs short-term programs, mission trips, faculty-led experiential learning programs and semester-long programs. Anderson University has cooperative agreements so students can take part in semester-long programs in such countries as: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands and Uganda.
For more information, contact the Center for Global Engagement at studyabroad@andersonuniversity.edu or (864) 231-2141.
