Adrienne Dodd, a sophomore environmental studies major at Southwestern, has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study in China this summer.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is part of a U.S. government effort to increase the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. The program provides all-expense paid intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences that last seven to 10 weeks.  

Dodd is one of approximately 610 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship for the CLS Program in 2013. She will spend eight weeks studying at Xiamen University in Xiamen, China.

“I am really excited to explore this new area of China, meet the people and see my Chinese improve,” Dodd said. “I hope to someday work in environmental protection and use my Chinese language to communicate and work with Chinese companies and organizations working for the same goal.”

Dodd is currently studying in China and interning with the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots program in Beijing. Her duties include editing translations for the newsletters, website, and pamphlets, and organizing and leading the International School Summit, in which Roots and Shoots clubs from local and international schools come together to discuss environmental issues and plan events for Earth Day. 

“The internship has been a wonderful experience. I am working with great people for a great cause,” Dodd said.  

Only about one out of every 10 students who apply for the CLS program are selected to participate. Dodd is the third Southwestern student to be selected for the program in the last four years. Gillian Ring also received a scholarship to study in China in the summer of 2010 and Ashley Johnson received a scholarship to study there in the summer of 2012.

−      Devin Corbitt