Brandon Smith, a Kent State University sophomore
geology major, received a $2,500 Benjamin A. Gilman
Scholarship from the U.S. State Department to attend the
university’s Florence Summer Institute in Florence, Italy, this
summer.

Kent State University’s Brandon Smith, a sophomore geology major, received a $2,500 Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship from the U.S. State Department to attend the university’s Florence Summer Institute in Florence, Italy, this summer.

The Gilman Scholarship assists undergraduate students of limited financial means who are U.S. citizens and desire to pursue academic study in foreign countries. The program is highly competitive, offering only 2,700 scholarships this past academic year.

“At the time of my application, I was unaware as to how competitive the scholarship was,” Smith says. “It is rather humbling to know that my application was chosen from the national pool.”

The Florence Summer Institute is a four-week intensive education-abroad program offered each summer through Kent State’s Office of Global Education. The program focuses on a variety of academic disciplines, and students attend classes in the Palazzo dei Cerchi, a renovated 13th-century palace in the heart of Florence. More than 140 students will participate in the Florence Summer Institute this year.

“Since a young age, I have found foreign cultures, languages and locations extremely alluring, but I had never found an appropriate opportunity to execute my aspirations, until I was presented with Kent State’s Florence Summer Institute,” Smith says. “I have Dr. Kristin Stasiowski to thank for that, as she introduced me to the Florence program.”

Stasiowski, Ph.D., director of international programs and education abroad for Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences and assistant professor of Italian language and literature in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, is excited that Smith received this award.

“It is an honor for Kent State University to be represented by Brandon as a recipient of the prestigious Gilman Scholarship,” Stasiowski says.

Stasiowski believes that Smith’s perception of the world will change due to his experience in Florence.

“Brandon's experience here, regardless of what he will study, will change the way that he sees the world,” she says. “More than knowledge, students come to Florence to gain that critical perspective that they need to be able to perceive with new eyes the world around them. In the best of cases, they also learn about themselves and how to adapt in an international context beyond the borders of Northeast Ohio.”

Smith says that without the Gilman Scholarship it would have been much harder for him to participate in the Florence Summer Institute.

“I am an independent student, meaning that I rely on scholarships and loans for financing my education,” he says. “At times, it can be difficult to find the appropriate funding, so the Gilman Scholarship has given me an amazing opportunity to pursue my academic aspirations without the worry of financial instability.”

Smith believes that studying abroad will help him become a better global citizen.

“I want to develop a better global cognizance and garner knowledge that would help me to succeed in my endeavors,” he says.

For more information about Kent State’s Office of Global Education, visit www.kent.edu/globaleducation.

For more information about the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship, visit www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program.