UTC students Vinny Nguyen, left, and Lauren Graves are the recipients of national competitive scholarships.
A pair of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga students have created paths to learning new languages after landing national competitive scholarships.
Lauren Graves, a senior English major and Brock Scholar in the UTC Honors College, will spend about a year in Japan as part of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program, which brings university graduates to Japan as assistant language teachers.
Vinny Nguyen, a sophomore political science and public service major, is the recipient of the CLS Spark scholarship. He will spend eight weeks in an online course learning Mandarin Chinese, a language the program deemed “essential to America’s engagement with the world.”
They both worked with the UTC Office of National Scholarships to land the awards.
“Both scholarships facilitate that two-way transfer of cultural exchange,” said Dr. Trey Straussberger, director of the Office of National Scholarships. “Lauren is going to go to Japan and learn more about Japanese culture and learn the Japanese language, but then she’s going to bring back that knowledge and share it in her community—facilitating those sustainable connections between the United States and places abroad.
“Vinny has always taken the initiative to push his boundaries and seize opportunities,” Straussberger continued. “He’s got a knack for languages.”
Graves, a graduate of First Baptist Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee, said she has experience traveling with the Honors College and UTC Choral program, but this is her first lengthy trip abroad.
“I feel like I keep oscillating back and forth between, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m so excited’ and ‘Oh my goodness, I’m about to be so far away from everything that is familiar,’” Graves said. “I’m more excited than nervous because I know there’s going to be supports in place for me there with the program.”
Graves said the JET program will propel her in her career by giving her new learning experiences and the time to apply to graduate and law school programs.
“It’s also a little bit of a breath of fresh air in some regards,” she said. “I have been working hard at this college thing for four years now. As much as I have loved my college experience and wouldn’t trade it for the world, I know that I want to spend a little bit of time in the workforce before I jump into grad school or law school.
“This is a really cool way for me to continue getting new experiences, learning more as a person and acquire new skills—but in an environment and challenging in ways that college is not.”
Straussberger said the JET program sees foreign language teachers as cultural ambassadors.
“I think the program is one of those crucial parts of American diplomacy and foreign relations,” he said, “and I think Lauren is going to be a great ambassador.
“I think that programs like this are really awesome in that they let you experience a whole other culture while also bringing what you have to the table and becoming a part of something bigger than yourself.”
Straussberger also said cultural exchange and global engagement resonate deeply with Nguyen.
CLS Spark is a precursor to the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program, providing students with formal language experience before studying abroad. Straussberger said most students who participate in the CLS Spark eventually qualify for acceptance into the CLS program.
“It sets students up for the Critical Language Scholarship where you actually go abroad for a year,” he said.
Dr. R.J. Groh, an associate lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Service, is Nguyen’s former comparative government and world politics professor. She explained why Nguyen—whose parents immigrated from Vietnam—deserved the scholarship.
“Vinny is a student who asks good questions,” she said. “That may sound silly, but he is listening more than he is speaking and will take every opportunity to learn.
“Vinny is a second-generation immigrant. He is a first-generation college student and is thrilled for this opportunity. For him, this award provides an opportunity to study and learn which he would not have otherwise had.”
Nguyen grew up in Chattanooga, graduating from Lookout Valley High School in 2022.
The CLS Spark, he said, will help him in his future career.
“My mom studied Mandarin in Singapore growing up,” Nguyen said, “and she told me a lot about that. That was a part of my inspiration for wanting to go abroad and study Mandarin.
“It’s also a big part of my academic and career interests because I want to work for the foreign service with the federal government for national security and economic prosperity. Mandarin is going to be a very big asset, especially if I want to work in Asian affairs or in Pacific affairs.”
After graduating from high school, Nguyen participated in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program—where he lived in Germany for a year as an international relations intern with the City Hall of Wolfsburg. He said this experience not only broadened his cultural horizons, but also added to the number of languages he has proficiency in (English, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese).
Nguyen was also selected as an alternate for a David L. Boren scholarship to Vietnam, offered through the Defense Language and National Security Education Office under the U.S. Department of Defense.
“I feel really grateful,” Nguyen said. “The U.S. government is really adamant about providing opportunities to underrepresented demographics, minorities or first-gen college students like me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to go abroad and study Chinese or Vietnamese.”
Learn More
The Office of National Scholarships
Japanese Exchange and Teaching program
