As a Roadrunner, the world is your university. Studying abroad offers a unique opportunity to learn from another culture and work in a global society.  You’ll be able to take your learning almost anywhere and gain a greater understanding of another country’s history and traditions.

Discover the study abroad opportunities available to UTSA students at study abroad.utsa.edu.

Eight students across UTSA’s colleges have been selected by the U.S. Department of State for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, a program designed to make studying abroad and its career advantages more accessible and inclusive for American students.

The Gilman scholarship affords students the opportunity to gain critical skills overseas and expand their career options and ability to make an impact in their home communities. The program especially supports first-generation college students, students in the STEM fields, ethnic and racial minority students, students with disabilities and students who are veterans.

Two of the individuals selected for the Gillman scholarship are Honors College students in the Terry Scholars Program.

Forough Askarirad, a sophomore, was awarded $3,000 to study psychology in Italy through UTSA’s Urbino Program. She demonstrated in her application that studying psychology there will foster new intercultural communication skills that will serve her in her future career as an immigration attorney. Askarirad, a first-generation student who arrived in the United States as a child from Iran, speaks English, Farsi and Arabic. She’ll now add Italian to her list.

“I am incredibly excited to be learning the Italian language,” Askarirad said. “I have always had a great love for languages, and I want to be able to learn as many as I can. I am looking forward to being fully immersed in Italian culture.”

Other UTSA students who are recipients of the award will be studying in different programs across the globe. Aashish Mavani, Meredith Shuman and Celeste Jones will travel to Urbino, Italy, as Gilman scholars to study music and psychology. Outside of the Urbino program, three other students to win the award this spring are Sydney Brown, who will be traveling to Botswana to study community health; Lauren Camacho, traveling to Kyoto, Japan, to study Japanese; and Aldo Pinedo. In total, UTSA students were awarded $21,500.

Read the full story on UTSA Today.