Christina Murray has been awarded the highly competitive U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship to study Persian this summer. She is the first West Virginia University student to win the award for the Persian language.
Murray, of Fairmont, graduated this May with a degree in international studies from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, also minoring in Arabic studies. A past winner of the Boren Scholarship, Murray studied Arabic in Jordan for a year her sophomore year. Murray has studied Arabic since her freshman year at WVU. After completing all available classes in Arabic at WVU, Murray decided she wanted to try learning a new language this summer.
Murray’s passion for language comes from her desire to understand others’ perspectives.
“By learning a language, I’m able to knock down this wall,” Murray said. “It’s important to talk to people, and learn about their experiences and what their life is like. It’s better for everyone whenever we’re able to communicate with each other. ”
Originally, Murray was granted the award to spend this summer studying Persian in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of State has cancelled language institutes abroad.
While the U.S. State Department intended for all awardees to participate in a summer Critical Language Scholarship Virtual Institute, Murray’s chosen language is not available because of limited instructional capacity.
“Although Christina was not able to participate in CLS, we are nonetheless so proud of this accomplishment. Choosing to study Persian after years of studying Arabic shows Christina's commitment to critical languages and remarkable dedication to preparing for her career. We know that the future is bright for Christina and we are excited to see what she does next.", said Cate Johnson, assistant director of the ASPIRE Office.
In the future, Murray plans to pursue a graduate degree in Arabic studies, and then to work for a year with the U.S. government to fulfil her obligations with the Boren Scholarship, utilizing her skills in Arabic.
Because of the needed adjustments to the program for the coronavirus pandemic this year, Murray and the other 2020 CLS winners will be eligible to reapply for the 2021 summer program, regardless of whether they are enrolled in a degree-granting program this fall, as long as they meet other eligibility requirements. Murray plans to reapply next year, in addition to applying to other scholarship programs such as the Fulbright Scholarship and the Center for Arabic Study Abroad Fellowship at Harvard University.
The Critical Language Scholarship is part of a wider government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to national security and economic prosperity. Thirty-three WVU students have been chosen for this honor. Finalists and alternates for the 2020 CLS Program represent students from 306 colleges and universities across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Students who are interested in this scholarship or other nationally competitive awards can make an appointment to talk to the staff in the ASPIRE office by emailing aspire@mail.wvu.edu.