The Student Government Association (SGA) at WKU has awarded scholarships to six WKU students taking study away courses during Winter Term 2017.
Through continuing support of a Study Away Scholarship, SGA encourages students to expand their learning opportunities off campus. SGA first began offering this scholarship to students taking a Study Away course during Winter Term 2011 and has since sponsored over 59 scholarships, totaling over $6,600.
The Winter 2017 Scholarship recipients are:
- Courtney Brock – Theater and Broadway (New York)
- Kennedy Harden – Hospitality in Las Vegas (Nevada)
- Tyler Johnson – Total Immersion Floodplain Management (Nevada & Arizona)
- John Martin – Total Immersion Floodplain Management (Nevada & Arizona)
- Haley Pardue – Geographic Exploration of Hawaii (Hawaii)
- Sadie Saylor-Reiss – Sundance Film Festival (Utah)
Courtney Brock, a family and consumer sciences junior from Portland, Tennessee, heads to New York City with Dr. Michele Dvooskin and Professor Jim Brown. This will be her first study away experience, and her course will allow her to meet her Colonnade requirement.
Kennedy Harden is a senior from Richmond, Kentucky, studying hospitality management and dietetics. Her study away course will take her to Las Vegas with Professor Ann Embry to explore many career opportunities. Harden says that “Las Vegas is full of anything and everything hospitality, so to be able to go and see everyday life in that light will be a very eye opening experience.”
Hoover Dam
Tyler Johnson, a senior civil engineering major from Morgantown, Kentucky, will study floodplain management in Nevada and Arizona with Dr. Warren Campbell. Johnson says that this study away opportunity gives him the chance to travel to see the Hoover Dam, one of the greatest civil engineering marvels in the world. His study away course will also help him stay on track to graduate in four years.
John Martin, a senior from Waddy, Kentucky majoring in civil engineering and geology, says that study away is an amazing way to support the students at Western Kentucky University. He will study floodplain management in Nevada and Arizona with Dr. Campbell.
Sadie Saylor-Reiss, a Louisville junior studying film, will travel to Utah for the Sundance Film Festival with Dr. Dawn Hall and Dr. Ted Hovet “I’m ecstatic that I was granted the opportunity to participate,” she said. “Going to Sundance is every film lover’s dream, and I am a film fanatic.” She says this experience will broaden her perspective on the competitive atmosphere she will encounter in her career.
WKU student on previous Study Away course
Haley Pardue, a junior from Bowling Green majoring in exercise science, will study geography in Hawaii. Pardue’s parents encouraged her to get out of her comfort zone. “This course will allow me to better understand and appreciate the land and sea that make up the world I live in,” she stated.
Study Away Director Jerry Barnaby said that study away courses are excellent complements to traditional classroom courses students take on campus, and that scholarships like this help students access these opportunities.
“The SGA scholarship makes a positive impact on students by giving them additional resources to take study away courses,” said Barnaby. “We appreciate SGA support for students by encouraging them to expand their overall academic experience. I encourage other organizations to follow SGA’s lead and develop their own scholarship programs to help students expand their study away opportunities.”
Study Away offers off-campus course that enable students to apply the lessons learned in the classroom in a practical, hands-on setting. No passport is required for study away courses since they take place within the United States.
Additional information about WKU Study Away is available at wku.edu/studyaway. For information about the SGA Study Away Scholarship, please contact Jerry Barnaby, director of the Office of Study Away.
Study Away is a unit of the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach.