Bowie State University News August 18, 2015 Bowie State Students Travel to China for Study Abroad Program First BSU Group Participate in New HBCUs-China Network Eight Bowie State University students embark on an opportunity of a lifetime as they depart for a semester-long study abroad program in China, as part of a new partnership between the Chinese government and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The students are the first group from Bowie State to receive the study abroad scholarships through the historic agreement between the Chinese Ministry of Education and HBCUs. Over the next three years, the Chinese Ministry of Education will award 1,000 scholarships to students from 43 HBCUs to cover most of their costs to study in China. Bowie State is one of eight founding members of the HBCUs-China Network. The Bowie State students will travel to the northernmost province of China to study at Heilongjiang University, a national university with a large population of exchange students. They will study Mandarin Chinese and courses related to their majors, including biology, education, business and math. They will live in university housing with other international students. Meet the China scholars: Olubunmi "Bunmi" Akinmade, Business Administration, Senior Bunmi hopes to learn more about international business and accounting. She expects that her biggest challenge will be learning Mandarin Chinese. Other than visiting London once for a wedding, she has never spent time outside of the United States. She especially looks forward to trying authentic Chinese cuisine. Sierra Boney, Business Administration, Senior While she has always wanted to travel, Sierra has never left the country before. She developed an obsession with Asian cultures in the fourth grade when her teacher from Japan taught the class about life in her homeland. While she is excited to live in a different culture and learn a new language, she anticipates struggling with being so far from home and finding her way around. Rahwa Habtemariam, Elementary Education, Junior Rahwa looks forward to expanding her perspective as an educator to offer her future students a broader worldview. She has only traveled outside the country when she visited Eritrea and the eastern part of Africa with her family. She anticipates challenges with adapting to the Chinese culture and learning a new language. Keisha LaRue, Government, Junior Keisha has an interested in international relations and aspires to work for the United Nations, so she has specific goals to adapt to living in another culture. She has taken short trips within North America and is thrilled to travel to halfway around the world for the first time. Although she thinks she'll struggle with learning Mandarin Chinese initially, she does believe that she and the other students will pick it up quickly. Briahana Mauge, Mathematics, Senior With her first study abroad experience, Briahana hopes to enlarge her worldview. She hopes to become a high school math teacher and wants to learn different ways of teaching math to expand the horizons of her future students. Although she traveled to eight countries as a student ambassador in high school, she anticipates challenges with learning Mandarin Chinese and navigating the country. Diamond McLean, Biology, Senior Diamond has only left the country once and has always wanted more opportunities to travel abroad. While she is looking forward to learning about a new culture, she has not set any expectations about what she will learn while studying abroad. She does expect that being homesick will be her biggest challenge. Angel Tillery, Visual Communications and Digital Media Arts (VCDMA), Sophomore Angel hopes to learn lessons from the Chinese culture that she can bring back to this country. She is excited to chart her personal growth after spending a semester in another culture. She expects to be challenged by the differences in teaching and learning in China. Shanese Townsend, Criminal Justice, Junior Shanese is excited to experience a new culture. She is originally from Jamaica and had to learn to adjust to life in the United States. She looks forward to becoming acclimated to living in China, including experiencing new foods and cultural experiences. Since she usually returned home on weekends while living on campus, her biggest hurdle will be overcoming homesickness. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.