BUFFALO, NY - Their fields of interest are as far apart as the countries in which they study but Canisius University scholars Aryn Keyel ’13 and Mark Van Kerkohven ’12, MS ’14 both share one thing in common with countless other Canisius students and alumni before them: They are recipients of prestigious international scholarships, which provide partial, if not full, tuition assistance and stipends.
Perhaps more significant, these international scholarships provide students with opportunities to make the world their classroom: They research the implementation of non-military foreign policy operations in Austria; examine how Germany’s interpretations of European Union (EU) treaties influence the development of future EU accords; and immerse themselves in Middle East culture to study the Arabic language, as well as the region’s politics, religion and history.
“When students receive such nationally and internationally recognized scholarships and fellowships, it serves as a testament to the quality of students enrolled at Canisius and the college's commitment to academic excellence,” says Christopher Lee, PhD, director of the Graduate Scholarships Office.
Both are exemplified during the extensive application process, which requires students to examine three critical questions about themselves: where they have been, where they want to go and what their lives’ ambitious are. Because most students have yet to figure out the answers to such thought-provoking questions, Canisius faculty serve as their self-exploration guides.
“As students begin to discover more about the direction in which they want to take their lives, they must detail it in a curriculum vitae, which highlights their academic achievements and shows evidence of leadership through community service and political involvement,” explains Peter Böhm, PhD, associate professor of German.
Böhm most recently mentored Van Kerkhoven in his application to the Austrian Ministry of Education for its foreign language teaching assistantship. He also advised Zhasmina Tacheva '14, Canisius' first-ever recipient of a DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) Grant. The German academic exchange service grant is among the most competitive scholarships a student can be awarded for study in Germany. Tacheva used her award to investigate four contemporary German-language authors of Bulgarian descent and their influence on Bulgaria-German relations.
A fundamental part of the application process requires students to submit a lengthy essay, which details the specific areas they intend to study, demonstrates their working knowledge of the subject and explains how they reached their decisions.
“This part of the application is probably the most difficult for students,” says John Occhipinti, PhD. The chair of the Political Science Department advised several successful Fulbright applicants in recent years. “When students come in initially, they are very vague. They might say 'I think I want to do something about the European Union’ but the project has to be much more specific than this, and so students have to do a good deal of research to narrow down their ideas and subjects.”
What follows is the tedious and sometimes tormenting work that scholarship applicants often refer to as 'the relentless revision process.' Despite all the writing, rewriting and research students endure, however, most will tell you the waiting is the hardest part. But whether they are awarded a scholarship or not, Lee says all the students walk away winners.
“The whole process really gives students a chance to examine their lives and set goals for themselves that they might not have otherwise done.”
Since 1987, the Fulbright Program awarded a total of 37 scholarships to Canisius students and alumni. This number is complemented by several previous recipients of Jacob K. Javits Fellowships, Andrew Mellon Fellowships, Harry Truman Scholarships and Benjamin Gilman International Scholarships.
