University Scholar Wins Boren Scholarship to Tanzania
Chase Gottlich, a junior pre-medical University Scholar, has been awarded the Boren Scholarship to study Swahili at American Councils' African Flagship Language Initiative at the MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Arusha, Tanzania during the 2016-17 school year. Photo courtesy of Chase Gottlich
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WACO, Texas (June 2, 2016) — Chase Gottlich, a junior pre-medicine University Scholar from Ormond Beach, Florida, has been awarded the prestigious David L. Boren Scholarship to study Swahili in Tanzania for the 2016-17 academic year.
The Boren Scholarship provides funding for undergraduate students wanting to study uncommon languages in regions that are not often frequented in study abroad programs. It focuses on countries and languages critical to the United States’ interests abroad and includes areas of Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.
Gottlich will be studying Swahili with American Councils' African Flagship Language Initiative at the MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Arusha, Tanzania. Out of 820 applicants, 165 were chosen as recipients of the scholarship.
“I am so humbled and grateful to have this opportunity to invest myself at such a young age and am ready and dedicated to be deliberate in experiencing the language and culture to be able to have the greatest future impact on others and on myself,” Gottlich said.
Gottlich said he has always wanted to be a doctor, and he plans to pursue medical school after he returns from Tanzania and graduates from Baylor. He said he wants to use his medical training, time studying Swahili and passion for languages to make a difference in the region.
“While the Boren Scholarship is only a year, I envision it being the catalyst for a lifetime of work in the East Africa region,” Gottlich said.
While at Baylor, Gottlich has been actively involved in volunteer work for the Family Health Center in Waco, was the co-chair for the spring 2016 American Medical Student Association mission trip to Guatemala, and has been a part of several short mission trips to the Rio Grande Valley. He enjoys studying languages and has taken advanced German and Russian classes in addition to his pre-medical requirements.
“Ever since high school, I have loved language study,” Gottlich said. “Some people learn languages to read texts, some to write business contracts, and some, like myself, learn languages for the excitement and satisfaction of conversing with new people.”
Frieda Blackwell, Ph.D., professor and associate dean for humanities in Baylor’s College of Arts and Sciences, worked closely with Gottlich throughout the application process and was instrumental to his success in receiving a Boren Scholarship, Gottlich said.
“It was a pleasure to work with Chase on the Boren Scholarship,” Blackwell said. “He's really the ideal candidate because he has a clear interest in languages and cultures, already speaking German and Russian at the advanced level, and wants to work in public health. The Boren Scholarship wants students who plan to spend their careers in public service. We're very proud of Chase.”
For more information about the Boren Scholarship, visit the website.
by Karyn Simpson, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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