Critical Language Scholarship Program | News and Stories

News and Stories

Kerry Burgott

Kerry Burgott is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Bangla program in Kolkata, India. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2017 with a Master of Public Policy and has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious U.S. Presidential Management Fellows Program. In her spare time, she and her husb…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Sarah Whipple

Sarah Whipple is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Arabic program in Meknes, Morocco. She is a rising junior at the University of Texas at Dallas studying International Political Economy. Sarah is also an alumna of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Arabic program. On a day off, y…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Troy Spier

Troy E. Spier is an alumnus of the 2017 CLS Swahili program in Arusha, Tanzania. He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in linguistics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Troy is also an Adjunct Instructor of English/ESL at Delgado Community College. His research focuses on language document…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Tristan Hilderbrand

Tristan Hilerbrand is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Japanese program in Hikone, Japan. She recently graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and minors in Asian Studies and Japanese. In addition to Japanese, Tristan also speaks Mandarin and Korean. Sh…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Aaron Yang

Aaron Yang is an alumnus of the 2017 CLS Chinese Program in Changchun, China. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a bachelor’s degree in international relations, Aaron now works in the U.S. Senate as a Correspondence Aide in Washington, D.C. He is pursuing a career in public service focusi…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Ariana Pemberton

Ariana Pemberton is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Hindi program in Jaipur, India. Ariana is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Art History. In the Fall 2018 semester, she will be returning to UC Berkeley to begin her Ph.D. studi…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Tucker Boyce

Tucker Boyce is an alumnus of the 2017 CLS Turkish program in Baku, Azerbaijan. Tucker also studied Turkish through the CLS Program in Ankara, Turkey in 2015. He graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia and worked on a post-bachelor's appointment in int…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Betty Nen

Betty Nen is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Indonesian program in Malang, Indonesia. Betty is a rising senior studying political science and Southeast Asian studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. At UW-Madison, Betty lives in the International Cooperative House, which is home to an equal number of …

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Wendy van Giezen

Wendy van Giezen is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Chinese program in Changchun, China. Wendy graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and global & international studies. She is currently preparing for graduate school, where she will pursue a Master of Public Health. W…

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018


Halina Shatravka

Halina Shatravka is an alumna of the 2017 CLS Russian program in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. She graduated from Fordham University in 2017 with a B.S. in neuroscience and is currently a student at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she studies clinical reproductive science. Halina also works as a …

Alumni Profile — July 23, 2018