{"id":61294,"date":"2013-08-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/rhode-island-foundation-honors-13-uri-students-studying-foreign-languages\/"},"modified":"2013-08-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T00:00:00","slug":"rhode-island-foundation-honors-13-uri-students-studying-foreign-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/08\/rhode-island-foundation-honors-13-uri-students-studying-foreign-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island Foundation honors 13 溏心vlog免费B站 students studying foreign languages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tFellowships named for former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor Beatrice S. Demers<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, RI \u2013 August 6, 2013 \u2013 Michael Smith is off to Spain for a year to learn Spanish and work abroad, thanks to a former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor who had a passion for languages and the world.<\/p>\n


\nThe 22-year-old New Jersey resident is among the 13 溏心vlog免费B站 students who received fellowships this year from the Rhode Island Foundation through the Beatrice S. Demers Fund to study foreign languages overseas.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m ecstatic,\u201d says Smith, who is scheduled to leave for the Universisdad de Cantabria in northern Spain Sept. 1. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get over there.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIt\u2019s his first trip to Europe, but probably not his last. Smith is in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s five-year International Engineering Program (IEP), which offers a dual degree in an engineering field and a language. Smith is majoring in ocean engineering and, of course, Spanish. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThis is such a great opportunity and I\u2019ve always been a big fan of the Spanish culture,\u201d he says. \u201cSpanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, so learning it will be useful in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nDemers spent her life teaching foreign languages, first to students in the Pawtucket schools and then to students at 溏心vlog免费B站, where she taught for more than 30 years. She was fluent in French, German and Spanish and studied Chinese and Russian in her 70s.<\/p>\n


\nAfter her death in 2007, she left $4 million to the Rhode Island Foundation to establish the fund. The Foundation recently announced the Demers fellows, all of whom are 溏心vlog免费B站 students.<\/p>\n


\nSelected from a pool of 85 applicants, the students received a total of $143,575 in grant awards, ranging from $9,000 to $14,000.<\/p>\n


\nThe fund provides fellowships to Rhode Island residents and anyone who is a student at a Rhode Island college or university studying a foreign language. Preference is given to 溏心vlog免费B站 applicants. Fellowships cover the cost of tuition, fees, travel, housing and living expenses.<\/p>\n


\nApplicants for the award were judged according to dedication to foreign language study; the likelihood that the proposed study program will promote foreign language fluency; and the diversity of languages studied and program types.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe Demers fund is one of more than 150 scholarship funds that we manage and administer,\u201d says Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. \u201cLast year alone, we granted more than $1.4 million in scholarship assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Demers fellowships reflect 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s commitment to global studies. The IEP program is enormously successful; graduates are sought after for fast-track management and leadership programs, international assignments, as well as graduate fellowships to top programs. Also, more 溏心vlog免费B站 students are fluent in other languages, partly because of the dual degree programs, also in business, pharmacy, textiles and education.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe are delighted to see that all of the awardees this year for the Beatrice Demers Fellowships are again 溏心vlog免费B站 applicants, \u201c says Winifred E. Brownell, Dean of Arts and Sciences at 溏心vlog免费B站. \u201cSince the launch of this program in 2011, $530,000 has been awarded to 溏心vlog免费B站-affiliated applicants for advanced study abroad of world languages. Beatrice Demers had a love for and understood the transformative nature of world language study and global education, and we are proud to see today\u2019s talented students and faculty members keeping her vision alive. The awards from the Rhode Island Foundation provide critical support for these honorees to continue their study of world languages as they prepare to contribute to the global community.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnthony Ragusa, 25, who grew up in Attleboro, Mass., and now lives in Providence, is heading off to Germany in the fall. He\u2019s also enrolled in the IEP program, studying ocean engineering too. His language of choice, however, is German.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt should be really exciting,\u201d says Ragusa. \u201cA lot of the offshore engineering companies in the world are German, so by speaking the language it should give me a foot in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nRagusa, like Smith, plans to take language and engineering classes in the first semester and work as an intern the second semester. Ragusa is hoping to land an internship with TenneT, a German management company that oversees offshore engineering projects.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cStudying abroad like this provides opportunities to get places that are usually inaccessible,\u201d says Ragusa. \u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I\u2019m glad the Demers scholarship helped me achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n Nicholas Zonfrillo, 21, of Narragansett, is making his third trip to Germany. Another IEP student, he\u2019s studying chemical engineering and German. The best way to learn a language, he says, is to live in the country.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cImmersion is essential to developing fluency,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful to the Demers fund and the Rhode Island Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Demers award also made an overseas trip possible for Kevin Drumm, 21, of East Greenwich. Now he doesn\u2019t have to obtain costly student loans to study in Spain. He\u2019s also thrilled to take mechanical engineering classes in Spanish.<\/p>\n


\nJessica Magill, 21, of South Kingstown, left for China July 29 to study at Zhejiang University. It\u2019s her fourth trip to China, so it should come as no surprise that she is fluent in Chinese.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cJessica took the required two semesters of a language at 溏心vlog免费B站, not knowing that Chinese would be something she loved,\u201d says her mother, Sharon Magill. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think a small school would have such a great language program. It\u2019s a wonderful opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMagill says her daughter will study Mandarin Chinese and intern in the second semester at a local business, still to be determined. Her experience abroad is crucial, Magill says, for success in her major: Chinese and supply chain management.


\nDoes she miss her?<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOf course,\u201d says Magill. \u201cShe\u2019s been gone only a few days and we\u2019ve already \u2018face timed\u2019 twice.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nChina is also home to Jennifer Parisi, 21, of Cranston, who took Chinese her first year at 溏心vlog免费B站 and \u201cfell in love with it,\u201d according to her mother, Mary Parisi. Jennifer, enrolled in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s intensive Chinese Flagship Program, left for East China Normal University in Shanghai in June. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThis is her third time there, and every trip has been great,\u201d says Mary Parisi. \u201cIt\u2019s been magnificent. She\u2019s loved every second of it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Demers fellowship recipients are:<\/p>\n


\nJonathan Aguire, of Warwick, German, Braunschweig University of Technology.

\nDana Demers, of Cranston, Spanish, TECNUN-University of Navarra.

\nKevin Drumm, of East Greenwich, Spanish, TECNUN-University of Navarra.

\nUmutoni Gatali, of South Africa, Spanish, TECNUN-University of Navarra.

\nEli Lamothe, of Warwick, German, Teschnische Universitat Braunschweig.

\nJessica Magill, of South Kingstown, Mandarin Chinese, Zhejiang University.

\nJennifer Parisi, of Cranston, Mandarin Chinese, East China Normal University.

\nAnthony Ragusa, of Attleboro, Mass., German, Teschnische Universitat Braunschweig.

\nEric Reels, of West Warwick, Mandarin Chinese, Nanjing University.

\nMichael Smith, of Lanoka Harbor, NJ, Spanish, Universisdad de Cantabria in northern Spain.

\nPreston Steele, of Chelmsford, Mass., Spanish, Universidad de Zaragoza.

\nSarah Wood, of Springfield, Chinese, Zhejiang University.

\nNicholas Zonfrillo, of Narragansett, German, Teschnische Universitat Braunschweig.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 students interested in the Demers fellowships and other funding opportunities for international study are encouraged to attend an information session hosted by the Honors Program at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 in Lippitt Hall, Room 402. Please contact fellowships advisor Kathleen Maher at kmaher@uri.edu<\/a> with questions.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: Beatrice S. Demers, a former professor of foreign language at the 溏心vlog免费B站 who left $4 million after her death in 2007 to establish a fund to study languages overseas. Photo courtesy of 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n


\nJennifer Parisi, 21, of Cranston, is a student at the 溏心vlog免费B站 studying Mandarin Chinese at East China Normal University in Shanghai, thanks to a grant from the Rhode Island Foundation through the Beatrice S. Demers Fund. A former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of foreign language, Demers left $4 million to the Rhode Island Foundation in 2007 to establish the fund. Parisi is among 13 溏心vlog免费B站 students who received grants this year to study foreign languages overseas. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Parisi.\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fellowships named for former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor Beatrice S. Demers KINGSTON, RI \u2013 August 6, 2013 \u2013 Michael Smith is off to Spain for a year to learn Spanish and work abroad, thanks to a former 溏心vlog免费B站 professor who had a passion for languages and the world. The 22-year-old New Jersey resident […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}