The U.S. Department of State has awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship to Chaminade junior William Howard. Howard will study Chinese in Taiwan during a six-week program. He is the second Chaminade student to accept the scholarship in as many years.
Howard was selected from more than 3,000 applicants from students across the United States; 670 will participate in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Indonesian, or Russian overseas programs. Howard will become fully immersed in Taiwanese culture, living with a host family and completing 120 hours of Chinese language instruction.
"I'm most interested in experiencing a totally different culture, seeing it compares to ours at home, and hopefully coming back a more well-rounded person," Howard said. "I never took Chinese before Chaminade, and I've become fascinated with the language. Our classes are always interesting, and activities and field trips with the Chinese Club bring what we learn to another level."
Howard has already begun to work with the State Department in preparation for his trip, acclimating to a slightly different form of characters used in Taiwanese Mandarin.
"Will is a self-starter who is always bringing new ideas to class and the Chinese Club," said Mr. Gregory Walsh, Chaminade Chinese teacher. "He seeks every opportunity to learn as much about the language as he can. Whenever students are working together on a project and have a difficult question, they often go to Will for the answer."
Chaminade President Bro. Thomas Cleary, S.M., said, "We're very proud of Will for securing this scholarship and the hard work he contributes in class every day. He is taking what he's learned at Chaminade and applying it for his life and for others. We look forward to Will sharing his experience with his classmates and everyone he encounters."
In 2017, Frank Mattimoe, 18, of Stony Brook, traveled to Shanghai with the NSLI-Y program. Mattimoe graduated from Chaminade earlier this month and is now preparing to study at NYU Shanghai in the fall. NSLI-Y aims to promote language learning, enrich cross-cultural understanding, and develop skills for international dialogue.