Scholarships available for foreign study
by Tiffany Davis, south editor

     One former TCC student is living in Prague while learning the language, world economics and international politics first hand after receiving the 1999-2000 National Security Education Program (NSEP) scholarship.

     "The scholarship has been very beneficial to my future. It’s provided a pathway for me to study abroad and given me the tools I needed to begin studying a foreign language in a foreign country. I had always wanted to do that, but I didn’t know where to start,” Joshua Key said.

     NSEP offers American undergraduates the opportunity to travel to other countries and areas of the world to study foreign languages, acquire skills and experiences that are critical to the future security of our nation.

     NSEP was designed to help American students gain the competence needed to communicate effectively across borders, understand other perspectives and analyze increasingly fluid economic and political realities.

     The need for internationally savvy employees is rapidly increasing.

     “In 1991 Congress was instrumental in recognizing that in order to address our future national security and economic competitiveness concerns, new approaches were needed to ensure that Americans broaden their base of understanding of critical yet frequently studied languages and cultures throughout the world,” Floreen Henry, South Campus assistant professor of French, said.

     According to a statement by Sen. David L. Boren on the National Security Education Act, the United States faces “a new challenge which calls again for a response with a new education initiative. Since the 1950s and through the end of the Cold War, the world came to the United States and spoke our language.

     “That era is now over. In order for the United States to compete economically and to protect our diplomatic and national security interests, we must develop greater skills in the areas of international and regional studies and foreign language fluency.”

     After many months of study, the Senate Intelligence Committee “has found that the United States urgently needs to improve our human intelligence capabilities.”

     The Committee’s report said, “We must start by shifting budget priorities, improving the quality of education and training of those who will help us better understand developments in the Third World and in strategically important areas of the world like the Middle East. “

     According to Sen. Boren, “At this time, we need to be more international in our thinking in order to survive in the New World environment. We appear, instead, to be becoming more insular in educating the next generation.

     “The need to develop more Americans with International skills has reached the danger point and clearly impacts our national security. The time to act is now,” he said.

     For Key, the experience is providing many educational experiences.

     “I live in Prague, which is Czech Republican right next to Germany and right below Poland. Since I’ve been living here in the center of Europe, I have gotten a much better idea of how economics and politics work globally than I could have ever dreamed of obtaining a living in Texas,” Key said.

     “I am speaking more Czechoslovakian than I am English. Of course, it took a lot of practice, class time and part-time private lessons to learn this language since it is very different from English with entirely new concepts,” he said.

      “I recommend all college students pursue life abroad. It has really changed who I am as a person.

     “Once you are away from other influences, you can begin defining who you are for yourself. I admit it can be a little scary at first, but the reward is worth it. I am a much more self-reliant and less naïve person than ever before,” Key said.

     Henry said students should meet with her, as their NSEP representative, “to obtain additional information and clarify any misconceptions.”

     All recipients of NSEP awards must agree to work for an agency of the federal government with national security responsibilities or to work in the field of higher education in the area of study for which the scholarship was awarded.

     “Students need to know that the application is immediately disqualified if a student does not follow directions and requests to study in a Western European country such as Spain,” Henry said.

“I can also provide insight as to how their study proposal can be stronger or more aligned with NSEP’s objectives,” she said.

     Henry must receive applications by January 19, 2001, for committee review and rating before all applications and materials are forwarded to Washington for a February deadline.

     Copies of the application can be picked up in ACB 102 on South Campus.

     For additional information regarding the NSEP scholarships and applications, contact Henry on South Campus at 817-515-4628.