I am so incredibly excited and proud to say that I will be living in Rabat, Morocco from early September 2017 until late May 2018! I will be going to Morocco because I am a recipient of an NSLI-Y scholarship. NSLI-Y is a program run by the US Department of State which awards scholarships to a select number of students each year to go abroad to study a foreign language. The goal of the program is essentially to get young people to learn "critical" foreign languages and to gain a better understanding of other cultures. (For more information on NSLI-Y, click here)
My NSLI-Y journey started way back in October 2016 when I submitted my application. I had always thought that it would be cool to study abroad, so when I found about NSLI-Y through my Spanish teacher, I decided I would submit an application because "why not" but also because I had always wanted to learn Arabic. A couple months later in December I got an email saying that I had been selected as a "semi-finalist" for the program and I really started thinking that I actually had a chance at receiving a scholarship. After finding that out, some of things I had to do were: be interview by an AFS volunteer, complete a medical evaluation and get my passport. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, I finally got an email on April 7th whose subject line read "NSLI-Y 2017-18 Application Status" and my heart started racing. I opened it, and read the following: "Dear Hunter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive a 2017-18 NSLI-Y scholarship!...Your scholarship is for the Arabic Year language program." I couldn't believe it. I had actually been selected! Words cannot describe how happy, excited and grateful I felt when I read that. I feel so blessed and truly honored to be one out of the only 13 students in America chosen for this specific opportunity and I cannot wait for it to begin! Here are some basic details about my upcoming adventure: -I leave on September 5th to go to Washington, D.C. There, we will have our pre-departure orientation and I will finally be able to meet the other students that I will be going with! -On September 7th, we depart D.C. and head for Morocco! -While in Morocco we will be paired with another student to live with a Moroccan host family. A typical school week: We will have 3 hours of Arabic language instruction every day and 1.5 hours of cultural class a few times per week. In addition to that, we will participate in various cultural and community activities and even have outings where we visit other parts of Morocco! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
4 Comments
Madame!
7/14/2017 11:43:39 am
Chouette! J´ai hâte de lire à propos de tous tes aventures!
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Hunter
7/14/2017 12:53:07 pm
Merci, Madame!
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Mary Ann Offer
7/20/2017 10:38:04 pm
You're off to a great start, Hunter! I'm so glad to have met you as you went through the scholarship application process. Now I'm looking forward to vicariously enjoying your Moroccan experience by reading your coming posts to this blog. I know you're just the sort of outgoing and inquisitive, language-loving person the State Department was thinking of when they initiated these terrific scholarships. :)
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LeeRoccy
8/7/2017 08:52:06 pm
¡Te deseo todo lo mejor Hunter! :)
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AuthorMy name is Hunter and this is my blog about my academic year in Morocco! |