VCU Student Awarded Critical Language Scholarship

March 31, 2016 by natlscholar

March 22, 2016

A Virginia Commonwealth University student has received a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Arabic in Madaba, Jordan.

Lama Elsadig Elsharif, from Dumfries, Virginia is a senior majoring in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations in the College of Humanities and Sciences. She is also pursuing two minors: Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Studies. After her May graduation, Elsharif will study Arabic at the advanced level in Madaba from June to August.

Elsharif has developed her skill in the Arabic language through study abroad, her VCU classes, and as a heritage speaker.

“What really drew me [to apply] was a friend of mine from study abroad who had done CLS. When she was accepted into the program, she was just a beginner in Arabic, but when I met her, her Arabic was impressive. I just knew that I wanted to be able to communicate in Arabic like her, and I knew CLS had a large role in her fluency in Arabic,” she said.

After her experience with CLS, Elsharif will attend graduate school at the University of London in the fall of 2016, where she will pursue a master’s degree in Human Rights or Dispute and Conflict Studies.

Elsharif is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the VCU Pre-Law Society, the VCU Muslim Student Association, the VCU Arab Student Association, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Elsharif is one of approximately 550 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s CLS Program for summer 2016

CLS participants spend seven to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in one of 13 countries to study Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish or Urdu.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. Participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.

Elsharif worked with the National Scholarship Office (NSO) while applying for the CLS. The NSO works with VCU students and alumni who wish to compete for prestigious national and international scholarships, such as the Critical Language Scholarship.

Elsharif hopes that more VCU students apply for this program: “My advice for future VCU applicants to the CLS program is to partake in any culture or language activity that relates to the language that you want to study; simply be able to show that you are interested and active in learning about that language and the culture.”

If you are interested in applying for the Critical Language Scholarship or other nationally or internationally competitive scholarships, please contact the NSO at natlscholar@vcu.edu.