Three Area Students Selected as Jackson State International Ambassador Scholars for 2024
The Global Learning Program at Jackson State Community College (JSCC) has announced its 2024 student recipients of the International Ambassador Scholarship, and they include Hardeman County residents Jace Allen, Karina Neal, and Marnina Smeltser. Twenty-three JSCC students, from a variety of programs and majors, will participate and represent JSCC this summer across 13 countries including places like Japan, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Scotland, Ecuador, and beyond in study abroad programs via the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies (TnCIS).
Every year, students have the opportunity to study abroad in the programs offered through the TnCIS. Students from JSCC and other colleges throughout Tennessee will take general education courses while visiting other countries over three to four weeks during the summer. TnCIS hosts more than 40 classes in 20 areas of study across four continents.
Jace will study Early World Literature in Italy; Karina will study art in France, Germany, and Holland; and Marnina will study Spanish in Spain.
To make this opportunity more accessible and affordable for students, JSCC offers the Jackson State International Ambassador Scholarship, which awarded over $90,000 to this year’s cohort who were accepted to a TnCIS program and showed potential to be an excellent representative of JSCC, the West Tennessee community, and our nation while in their chosen host countries.
All three, along with their peers, are looking forward to traveling abroad and experiencing a different culture.
“[I’m looking forward to] pretty much everything. The people, the art, the architecture, an Italian restaurant that’s not Olive Garden,” said Jace, who has previously traveled to Canada to see Niagara Falls and to the Philippines to visit family. “Italy’s just a really cool country with tons of history.”
Marnina has previously traveled internationally to Medjugorje, a villiage in the southeastern European country of Bosnia-Herzegovinia. She is looking forward to visiting a new country and shared what excites her about the experience.
“The culture, climate, architecture, and Spanish immersion,” said Marnina.
Each student’s scholarship requires them to return to JSCC as “International Ambassadors” who will help promote the study abroad program to their peers, and they will share their personal travel journals, photos, and videos with the college. To qualify for the scholarship and for the program, which is hosted through Jackson State’s partnership with the TnCIS, students had to complete at least 12 college-level hours, meet minimum GPA guidelines, and interview successfully with the JSCC International Education Committee.
“These programs are transformative for our students. Many of them have never been on a plane before or even out of West Tennessee,” said Dr. Liz Mayo, the Coordinator for Global Learning at JSCC. “Our programs give students an affordable way to see the world in a safe and educational environment supported by faculty and other students from across the state of Tennessee.”
This incredible opportunity is unique for a community college, providing an accessible study abroad experience from which a diverse body of students can benefit. Full-time and part-time JSCC students over the age of 18 are eligible to apply for study abroad, and JSCC invites community members to come learn more about our global learning options.
To learn more about Jackson State’s Global Learning Program, visit jscc.edu/studyabroad or e-mail Dr. Liz Mayo at lmayo6@jscc.edu.
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