• May 23, 2018

    USC senior awarded scholarship to study in Russia

    Jonah Auslander Upper St. Clair High School senior Jonah Auslander was recently awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship. Jonah will participate in the summer NSLI-Y program, administered by American Cultural Exchange Service, in Moscow, Russia.

    Jonah, along with 14 other American high school students from across the United States, will spend six weeks in Moscow studying the Russian language intensively while living with a Russian host family and participating in local cultural activities.

    Jonah has participated in several internationally focused activities including the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh’s Global Leadership Certificate Program as well as the Upper St. Clair High School Global Fluency Certificate Program. He also completed an apprenticeship through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in international relations and has completed a class on intelligence and national security through American University.

    This fall Jonah will attend the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Bloomington.

    The NSLI-Y Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is a U.S. government initiative that prepares American citizens to be leaders in a global world.

    “NSLI-Y scholars are provided the opportunity to gain the necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogue and support American engagement abroad,” Debbie Li, executive director of ACES, said.

    The program provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students and recent high school graduates to learn less commonly taught languages during summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. Languages include Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Persian, Russian and Turkish.

    The goals of the NSLI-Y program include sparking a life-long interest in foreign languages and cultures, and developing a corps of young Americans with the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogue and support American engagement abroad.

    For more information, visit www.nsliforyouth.org.