A quintet of Lehman College students recently learned they will be studying abroad at destinations of their choice after being named Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship award recipients.
The City University of New York (CUNY) – the largest urban public university system in the country consisting of 25 colleges within the five boroughs – announced the Fall 2024 recipients of the scholarship program. A total of 30 students from nine CUNY schools, including five students from Lehman College, were selected.
The scholarship allows selected CUNY students to study abroad with their trip abroad coinciding with their college major.
To qualify for the scholarship, students must write three essays, totaling between 1500 and 2000 words, about how the experience of studying abroad would help them continue to grow as a college student.
The scholarship’s mission aims to develop a generation of future American leaders with the career skills and international networks to advance students through economic prosperity while encouraging diversity, building international networks, promoting American culture and preparing for global careers.
One recipient of the scholarship, Bailey Reeves, is a third-year student majoring in Biochemistry and currently studying in Morocco.
Before her trip on Jan. 3, Reeves never traveled outside the U.S. except for a cruise she took to Mexico in 2019 when she was 12 years old. She will continue to study abroad in Morocco for the winter semester.
“This experience is allowing me to see a different part of the world I might not have seen otherwise,” Reeves said. “[This scholarship] makes me feel incredibly happy and privileged.”
Reeves, expected to graduate this year, added studying in Morocco has given her a new perspective regarding the practice of medicine — where medical care, according to Reeves, is “underfunded and underutilized” compared to the U.S.
In Morocco, the lowest 40% of income receives only 20% of public financing for healthcare, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“It’s nothing like [the health care] we have here — with Mt. Sinai and New York Presbyterian,” she added.
Aminatu Ibrahim, who is studying Business Administration, will be abroad in the United Kingdom for six months beginning in late August.
I don’t know how to describe it,” Ibrahim said “I’ve never received a scholarship and I was so excited when I got the news — it’s an opportunity to expand your mind and do new things.”
Born in the U.S. and currently a Fordham resident, Ibrahim moved to Ghana at age nine for two years where she helped out at her aunt’s hair salon business.
Working in the atmosphere of a professional environment since before she reached adolescence, Ibrahim dove into the world of business, prompting her to choose her college major.
“If I could give some advice, I would say people should always go with their gut and never block their blessings,” Ibrahim added. “You might not know just how capable you really are when it comes to achieving something.”
She said her biggest influence was her father, who also attended Lehman College and was awarded with scholarships for his academic performance in the early 2000s.
A junior studying Health Services Administration, Melissa Peña, said she wasn’t expecting to be named a recipient of the scholarship.
“I guess, when you come from a low-income family, as a Dominican, you start to believe that good things just aren’t going to happen to you — but it means the world to me,” Peña said.
Peña will study abroad in Barcelona, Spain as part of a month-long program beginning in June. She also said she gets academic motivation from her parents, both of whom did not have the opportunity to attend college and began working at a young age.
“This is a dream come true — I’ve wanted to study abroad since high school,” Peña added. “I would just say, to anybody, don’t let your socioeconomic status stand in the way of your success.”
In its 24-year history, the scholarship has seen more than 163,000 applications, with more than 44,000 scholarships awarded to students participating in study abroad programs and internships. Since its inception, about 27% of student applicants have been awarded scholarship grants to study abroad.
Abreya Porter, who is majoring in Psychology and expected to graduate in the spring of 2026, will be studying abroad in Japan.
Porter is a first-generation daughter from a Guyanese household and the first in her family to study abroad.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to represent my community in such a meaningful way,” Porter said. “This opportunity is not only a personal achievement, but a reminder of the hard work and sacrifices made by those who came before me,” Porter added.
During her time in Japan, Porter said she is most excited to immerse herself in the language, experience the food and understand “the rich cultural traditions that make Japan so unique.”
“I look forward to growing both academically and personally, expanding my worldview and using these experiences to better understand the human mind,” Porter said.
Porter was also one of 51 students to receive a supplemental language award after writing an additional essay about how learning a foreign language would help her continue to grow as a student.
“This program has always targeted first-generation American students who would otherwise not have an opportunity to study abroad,” Nicole Flores said, who is the study abroad advisor and adjunct lecturer at Lehman College.
In the 2022/2023 school year, nearly 67% of study-abroad students were white. The second-highest demographic was Hispanic students, trailing behind at barely 12%. The lowest participation rate was amongst American Indian/Alaska Natives at 0.3%
Flores was also a recipient of the scholarship award as a freshman and sophomore when she attended Lehman College and double-majored in English and Philosophy. For her abroad education, she traveled to Singapore.
She added Lehman College helps students prepare their essays for submission through an “extensive drafting and editing process.”
I encourage any (CUNY) student who wants to apply for this scholarship to go for it,” Flores added.
“We congratulate the students who have earned this incredible opportunity to study abroad and take their higher education experience to the next level,” CUNY chancellor Félix Matos Rodriguez said, adding these students will undoubtedly represent CUNY around the world as they build up upon what they have learned on campus.
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, offered by the U.S. Department of State, grants up to $5,000 to students traditionally underrepresented in education abroad, including students with financial limitations, students of color and community college students as well as students with disabilities.
The other 25 recipients of the scholarship are students from eight other CUNYs, including City College of New York, Baruch and Hunter.