Neil's Notebook Neil's nomination helps University of Hawaii student to join U.S.-Korea study program
May 12, 2009
University of Hawaii graduate student Sherrie Chung has been selected to participate in a program that will unite Korean and American students to foster mutual understanding between their respective countries through travel, professional meetings and cultural activities in the U.S. and South Korea.
Sherrie’s nomination and recommendation to the “U.S. Congress-Korean National Assembly Youth Exchange Program” was supported in a letter from Neil who noted her studies at the University of Hawaii’s Korean Language Flagship Center—the only institution of its kind in the world. The Center offers comprehensive education programs in content-based and task-based Korean as a foreign language and helps students achieve superior proficiency in Korean language and culture.
In his letter of recommendation, Neil wrote: “Sherrie’s overseas experience began in high school with a one-year study abroad program in France. Immersed in French, she studied various fields such as art history and French civilization. She has since graduated with a BA degree in Urban Studies from Stanford University. It was her overseas experience that led her to realize that ‘there are many ways to view the world and one’s identity therein—being exposed to only American culture suddenly seemed pitiable.’”
Sherrie Chung
Sherrie is developing her Korean language skills at the University of Hawaii where she is pursuing an MA in Korean for Professionals and honing her analytical skills. “She is aiming her sights on a world much bigger than the relatively sheltered one she had know as a high school co-ed in Connecticut,” says Neil.
“I am now excited about media analysis as an avenue to understanding (North Korea’s) policy lines, says Sherrie. “I have learned that North Korean intent regarding pressing issues is signaled through the country’s controlled media. Careful analysis of language, trends, and related world events can actually reveal policy intent.”
Meridian International Center will conduct the U.S. Congress-Korean National Assembly Youth Exchange Program, administered by the U.S Department of State and sponsored by Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois. American participants are nominated by members of Congress. The students will be engaged in studies and activiies while in Washington, D.C. and Seoul, South Korea in July and August.
Through the exchange program and her continued studies at the University of Hawaii, Sherrie hopes to gain a better understanding of how legislative and diplomatic processes translate to real-world policy and become involved in the policy-making process in the future.
Sherrie Chung