UND NSPA Monthly Communiqué
March 2020, Issue 1
Welcome Spring and UND's National Scholarship Peer Advisors (NSPA)
Spring arrives this month! Spring brings color and beauty to the white canvas that is North Dakota's winter landscape. It is the season of new beginnings. Have you considered applying for national scholarships and fellowships as part of your new adventure? A number of national and international organizations offer scholarships and fellowships to develop knowledge and skills beyond the classroom setting or to study in highly competitive graduate programs. Applying for these scholarships requires developing the resume that shows you have courage, persistence, and a clear purpose. National Scholarship Peer Advisors (NSPA) are here to help. I am very happy to introduce these students to you in the first edition of the UND NSPA Monthly Communiqué.
Yee Han Chu PhD MSSW
Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator
A Sampling of National Scholarships DUE in March
Gilman
DUE March 3, 2020
The Gilman Program provides grants for undergraduate U.S. citizens of limited financial means to study and intern abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity.
Udall
DUE March 5, 2020
The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for leadership, public service, and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or to the environment.
Cobell
DUE March 31, 2020
Both Merit-based and Need-based, the competitive Cobell Scholarship is annual, non-renewable, and available to any post-secondary (after high school) student who is; an enrolled member of a US Federally-Recognized Tribe, enrolled in full-time study and is degree-seeking.
Introductions
We are students dedicated to helping our peers seek national and international scholarship opportunities that can advance their academic and professional mission. We are here to answer questions and to offer support in the pursuit of these opportunities. Please identify which NSPA you would like to contact through our address: UND.NSPA@UND.edu
Aivaras Bartkaitis (Military)
Cecelia Castleberry (Internships)
Austin Demolee (Pre-Med)
Cale Gressman (Humanities)
Nathan Moe (STEM)
Emmanuel Musa (Business)
Michelle Nguyen (Economics and Political Science)
Kincaid Rowbotham (STEM)
Aivaras Bartkaitis (Military)
Year in School: Senior
Major: Biology
Location of Origin: I grew up in a small town called Prienai found in Lithuania, which is a country in Eastern Europe.
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: Not yet
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: I became an advisor for cadets in both the Army ROTC and Air-force ROTC programs. I decided to become an advisor to give cadets the opportunity to become a National Scholarship winner and become more accustomed to foreign cultures and languages.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
What a small country
A country of song and rain
A place of my rootsCecelia Castleberry (Internships)
Year in School: Junior
Major: Molecular and Integrative Biology
Location of Origin: Morelia Michoacán
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: NIH-C-SOAR Internship
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: To help students find internships.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
North Dakota cold
Freedom at last here I am
Free from oppression
Austin Demolee (Pre-Med)
Major: Biochemistry and Biology
Location of Origin: Warroad Minnesota.
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: Marvin's Scholarship
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: I decided to become a scholarship advisor because I want to help students to be able to receive additional money for college. Therefore, taking the stress of not having enough money away and allowing them to complete college without nearly as many economic worries.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
I don't write Haikus
This will not be very good
But I was forced to
Cale Gressman (Humanities)
Major: History and Pre-Law Philosophy
Location of Origin: Watford City, North Dakota
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: Not yet
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: I decided to take part in NSPA to not only help other learn and apply to nationally competitive scholarships but myself as well.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
It was mid morning
Political science class
College had begun
Nathan Moe (STEM)
Major: Forensic Science and Molecular and Integrative Biology
Location of Origin: Loretto, Minnesota
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: US
MASTER scholarship
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: To help other students find better opportunities around campus and get more involved
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
I cannot confirm
Nor deny allegations
You lay against me
Emmanuel Musa (Business)
Major: Business Economics
Location of Origin: Born and raised in Nigeria
and moved to college from Bloomington Minnesota
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: Not yet
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: It is a great opportunity to work with high achieving students which will lead to personal and professional growth.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
The air smelled different
I had indeed come to live
The land of the free
Michelle Nguyen (Economics & Political Science)
Major: Political Science and Economics
Location of Origin: Eden Prairie Minnesota; however, my parents hail from Vietnam.
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: The Dream Award from Scholarship America
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: I wanted to find a way to give back to others by advocating and supporting them with the processes of applying for national scholarships.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
3 pm phone rings
automatic tears began
Hooray debt is paid
Kincaid Rowbotham (STEM)
Major: Molecular and Integrative Biology
Location of Origin: Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania and moved to college from Delano, Minnesota
Have you won any notable scholarships/internships: None yet. I am working towards the Goldwater scholarship and DAADRise program.
Why did you decide to be an advisor?: Opportunities at UND are often looked over or not acknowledged with the level of portance they have on a student's academic and professional career. Emphasizing the importance of these opportunities as well as seeing students receive these accolades, that they believed impossible for them, is why I decided to become a peer advisor.
Haiku on the most memorable day of your life:
Never mull over:
The crux of acceptance lies,
Barren before us.
Classroom Presentations
March 3, 2020 2 PM to ROTC- Boren, Project GO, and Tillman Scholarships (with A. Bartkaitis)
National Scholarship & Internship Highlights
- Cecelia Castleberry, a junior majoring in molecular and integrative biology, earns a NSF-REU summer internship to study in the University of Idaho's Program in Molecular and Organismal Evolution.
- Ranju Dhungana, a senior majoring in psychology, earns a Critical Language Scholarship.
- Vincent Ledvina, a sophomore majoring in physics, is a Semi Finalist for the SMART Scholarship and earns a NASA summer internship to work at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on the Aurorasaurus Project.
- Nathan Moe, a sophomore majoring in Forensic Science and Molecular and Integrative Biology, is a Semi Finalist for the SMART Scholarship.
- Marshall Nunberg, a 2018 alum, is a Finalist for the Yenching Scholars Academy of Peking University.
- Joel Runnels, PhD student in Educational Foundations and Research, completed a Fulbright Specialist assignment at the Department of Linguistics of the University of Ghana to create an educational video on Ghanian sign language.
Student SPOTLIGHT: Marshall Nunberg
My name is Marshall Nunberg, a 2018 alumnus of the University of North Dakota. At UND I majored in Political Science and Chinese Studies. I currently work as an English teacher in Guangzhou, China.
I began applying for nationally and internationally competitive scholarships in 2016, my junior year. The first of these was the Thomas Pickering Fellowship, a program “that attracts and prepares outstanding young people for Foreign Service careers in the U.S. Department of State.” Having just started my studies in Chinese and politics, I did not have many relevant extracurricular experiences to supplement my application prior to submission. I was not chosen as a recipient for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, I knew that given time and effort, I could become a viable candidate. I spent the remainder of my junior year applying for scholarships and grant money through UND. That year I secured nearly $3,000 to help finance a Model United Nations conference in Chicago as well as a study abroad in China.
I continued to build on these extracurriculars my senior year. With the help of additional grant money from UND, I was able to attend the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs at West Point Military Academy. Following graduation at UND, I completed a study abroad in Taiwan with the generous support from family, friends, and faculty. It was while in Taiwan that I decided I would pursue a master’s degree in China or Taiwan.
I returned from Taiwan and began to attend scholarship information sessions at UND. This is where I met Dr. Yee Han Chu, who has been a tremendous help in preparing me as a candidate for national and international scholarship programs. With the assistance of many UND faculty, Dr. Chu and I have worked on several applications including the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, a Fulbright Scholars at National Chengchi University, and the Yenching Scholars Program at Peking University. The most recent news in my scholarship endeavor is that I have been selected as a finalist for the Yenching Scholars Program and will know my status soon.
To students, I hope my story can serve as a motivation to continue your pursuits, whatever they may be. Realize you are committed to a process that may involve at least several years. There will be ups and downs, exciting moments, and days you want to give up. Persevere, every moment is worth it. To faculty members, thank you for your efforts. May my story be an an expression of gratitude towards you all for your help.
Best,
Marshall Nunberg
Fulbright Scholarship Opens in April
Opens April 1, 2020. Begin your application now.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs. A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S.
Academic Support and Fellowship Opportunities Coordinator
Email: yee.chu@und.edu
Website: https://und.edu/academics/national-scholarships/
Location: Columbia Hall, RM B307, 501 N. Columbia R. Stop 7187
Phone: (701) 777-4436
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/108818960563786/posts/196605401785141/?d=n&substory_index=0
Are you interested in a classroom environment that teaches you how to apply for national and international scholarships?
Enroll Now for Fall 2020 Instruction:
Columbia Hall B321D
M 4-6PM 2 Credits
Honors: A & S 294 Hon-03 (8197)
Non-Honors: A&S 294-02 (8198)