Meriah Woolery, recipient of U.S. Critical Language Scholarship
Ohio University student Meriah Woolery has won a U.S. Critical Language Scholarship, a highly prestigious and nationally competitive scholarship, to study Chinese for eight weeks in China this coming summer.
The Critical Language Scholarship program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. CLS is a program of the U.S. Department of State, part of a wider government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to national security and economic prosperity. CLS plays an important role in preparing students for the 21st century’s globalized workforce and increasing national competitiveness.
Woolery is currently serving as President of the Chinese Language Students Association, with strong leadership skills and a passion to help current Chinese language students. She has devoted much of her time to learn Chinese language and culture.
As such, she has completed three years of Chinese language classes plus an independent study course, using authentic materials to learn Chinese language and culture. Woolery has been an outstanding student in the Department of Linguistics‘, Chinese language program. She has a clear goal to master the language so she can use it for her future career to promote communications between the United States and the rest of the world, including China. She has taken an active approach to learning Chinese by preparing very well for each class, by practicing Chinese in and outside of the class and by actively participating in all in-class activities.
Woolery completed her second year of Chinese through OHIO University’s intensive summer study-abroad program in Beijing, with the help of a special scholarship from Ohio University. She not only handled the intensive classes very well, but also found time to go out and communicate with local Chinese. She was able to understand the local people, to identify subtle cultural differences in China, and her Chinese language skills significantly improved.
Meriah Woolery, master of ceremonies at the Chinese New Year’s Gala, along with Jahmir King
Woolery has read extensively on Chinese culture and has built substantial knowledge on the socio-cultural issues in China. As president of CLSA, she has helped plan for and participated in many extra-curricular activities with the Chinese language program to help promote Chinese language and culture. She served as a master of ceremonies with Jahmir King (another CLSA leader who also won a similar scholarship in 2018) at the Chinese New Year’s Gala on Jan. 27, to help promote Chinese culture to the local community.
The CLS program will help Woolery to further develop proficiency in Chinese and to learn more about Chinese culture in China. As a theater major, she plans to learn Chinese theater to help form a cultural bridge between the U.S. and China, and to strengthen her credentials to become a model global citizen.
Almost every year the Chinese language program has had students who have won some nationally competitive scholarships. Most recently in 2018, three of the Chinese language students won two types of nationally competitive scholarships. The program supports OHIO’s mission by preparing students for the globalized workplace. For further information concerning the program, please contact the Linguistics Department (Dr. David Bell, 740-593-4564) and/or Dr. Liang Tao (740-593-9469, tao@ohio.edu).
Comments