Gilman, Asia-Pacific Scholarships Integral To University of Arizona Junior’s Semester In New Zealand
Micheal Hoffman Plans To Dive Into Local New Zealand Culture While At AUT University
Micheal Hoffman, a University of Arizona student awarded a prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, traveled this summer to Venice, Italy, and will soon begin a semester at AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand.
Micheal Hoffman, a 20-year-old Junior at the University of Arizona, wants to blend into local life as much as possible when he begins the fall semester abroad this year at AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand, through the AustraLearn program.
“The biggest thing I want to get out of this experience is to be able to submerge myself in the culture that way by time I leave I feel like a local, like a New Zealander,” says the political science, philosophy and social major from Phoenix. “And to also enjoy myself while seeing incredible views in perhaps the world’s most beautiful country.”
It is a semester abroad made possible through a $3,000 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, as well as additional scholarship money from the Foundation For Asia-Pacific Education, AUT University and Australearn.
“Scholarships are a keystone to education for those who cannot afford a college education, especially minorities,” Hoffman says. “For me, it felt like without more scholarships I would not be able to afford to study abroad with the cost just above $18,000. When determining if I would be able to study abroad, I told myself I could not afford to take more than $5,000 in loans, so I needed at least $3,000 more in scholarships. With the scholarships I have received I will be able to study abroad and to do so without taking any loans.”
It will be the second international education trip for Hoffman, who traveled to Italy for 30 days this summer as part of the Dorrance Scholarship Program, which also continues to fund him along with the University of Arizona Hispanic Alumni Club.
Possible subjects Hoffman is considering for study at AUT include Arts Education, Ecology and Evolution, New Zealand Political Studies, and Policing and Society.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to experience New Zealand for a whole semester,” he says, “and to share this experience with my girlfriend, Nancy Mejia.”
Print
Related posts:
[...] in an intensive program studying the Mandarin language and culture. She also is the receipient of a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, a program that grants scholarships to U.S. citizens who are undergraduates to pursue academic [...]