The College of Liberal Arts (COLA) Department of Modern Languages hosted their annual Major and Minor Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 14. Awards, scholarships and prizes were granted out to students involved with foreign languages.
In the fall, workshops are planned for students looking at graduate schools and careers in languages as well as internships. “We add awards and also do this every spring semester, so we can honor our graduating seniors, our mid-garrison scholars, our COLA outstanding seniors, and our awards for study abroad,” Marie A. Hertzler, the chair and associate professor of French, said.
There were over two dozen awards handed out to numerous students involved with foreign languages or study abroad. The Outstanding Senior award in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish, The Garrison Scholar in Arabic and other languages, the Top COLA Top Scholar award, the COLA Leadership and Study Abroad scholarships (a scholarship to students who are part of the ambassador program and studying in France only) were some of the awards granted.
Each award and scholarship nomination processes are different.
“The nominations for the study abroad scholarships with COLA come from the students themselves that apply, and they go through a selection process. For the outstanding seniors, there’s no application process. Faculty in each language section choose the outstanding senior themselves. For the garrison scholar which is mid-career, they do the same thing,” Hertzler said.
Some may have requirements such as studying abroad during a time in the semester or due to GPA. On what the Major and Minor Award Ceremony signifies, Hertzler believes the event shares the accomplishments of students and “celebrates their successes and future goals.”
