By Avery Dunn, Kapi‘o Staff Writer
The Freeman Foundation Community College Program is accepting applications for its 2016 Study Abroad program in China.
Applications for the semester-long stay are due on April 15.
The Freeman Grant offers twelve credits in Hawaii and twelve in China. Those credits consist of six language credits, a history and culture course, and service learning.
Students will spend their first semester in Hawai‘i doing intensive Chinese language study and cultural research.
The following semester, the students will travel Shanghai, the fastest growing city in China. Students will spend most of their time in East China University earning Kapi‘olani Community College credits.
Following their educational experience, they will travel to Beijing to visit the Great Wall. During their spring break, students are given the option to explore China given their extensive work already done in learning the language.
In China, students will also spend time teaching English to children or speaking with the elderly in addition to their own learning. Following all of their educational activities, students are allowed to travel independently, and meet new people.
The Freeman Grant covers airfare, tuition, meals, rooms and books that are needed in the program.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel and learn at someone else’s expense,” said program coordinator Joe Overton.
Students ineligible for the Freeman Grant can still apply for the Honda Scholarship, worth $4,000 towards their education.
The study abroad program gives students “an opportunity to spend time in another country, and to study about different cultures” Overton said.
With the China program in particular, students will be immersed in the culture of a growing global power whose influence could be tied to employment opportunities after college. With China’s population being the highest in the world, companies are searching for bilingual, college graduates to represent their company.
In 13 years of operation, the Freeman program has sent more than 300 students, many of them from KCC, overseas for an invaluable educational experience.
Applicants must be enrolled full time, maintain a 3.0 GPA, and hold U.S. citizenship.
For more information, visit: https://goo.gl/1qveNz.