Nakia Edmond Becomes First-Ever Graduate Student to Win the Critical Language Scholarship

The Graduate College is pleased to announce that Nakia Edmond has received the Critical Language Scholarship. She is the first-ever graduate-level awardee at Texas State University. The CLS is a fully-funded, intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program under the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She will be studying Mandarin this summer in Changchun, China.

Nakia began studying Chinese as an undergraduate student at Prairie View A&M University. In the summer of 2016, her Chinese professor encouraged her to study abroad in China. She was the first student to study abroad in Shanghai, China, through CEA Study Abroad. She later became an ambassador for CEA to advocate for other students to invest in study abroad and to learn a new language. After graduating with her BSCJ in 2017, she started her graduate studies in the international studies program at Texas State. She plans on getting her Ed.D. in international education with an ultimate goal of becoming an education abroad director for a university. In this role, she hopes to create partnerships with foreign universities that will increase opportunities to study abroad for both undergraduate and graduate students and to inspire college students to travel the world to gain a global perspective. 

In applying for the CLS, she has learned the importance of teamwork, revisions, and honest self-appraisal. Nakia advises other students interested in applying for funding to get personal with essays, use all resources available on campus for guidance during the application process (even if it means multiple revisions), and, finally, to send it off with hopes and prayers!