Hall junior studies Chinese culture, living in Beijing

Washington, DC – Alec Stott, a Hall High School junior, has been awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarships. NSLI-Y is funded by the U.S. Department of State and provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly-taught languages.

The scholarship enables Stott to study Chinese in Beijing for six weeks this summer. Stott will attend classes during the week with 30 fellow American students plus Chinese students. On weekends, Stott will live with a host family in Beijing. The merit-based scholarship covers all program costs including domestic and international travel; tuition and related academic preparation, support and testing for language study; educational and cultural activities focused on language learning; orientations; applicable visa fees; three basic meals per day; and accommodations with the host family. “I’m leaving behind everything that’s familiar and going to a country where I don’t know the culture or much of the language,” said Stott. “This is a great opportunity to fully immerse myself in the Chinese culture and learn all I can about the people, their history and their way of life. At the same time, I get to be an ambassador and represent the Unites States. I’ll learn a lot, and I hope they’ll learn from me as well.” Stott studies French and Chinese at Hall and credits his love of languages to his teachers, Gay Adams and Lauren Drazen, both teach at Hall. Drazen was instrumental is Stott winning the scholarship by encouraging him to apply and submitting a recommendation on his behalf. 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 skills necessary to advance international dialogue in the private, academic or government sectors, building upon the foundations developed through person-to-person relationships. Launched as part of a U.S. Government initiative in 2006, NSLI-Y seeks to increase Americans’ capacity to engage with native speakers of critical languages by providing formal and informal language learning and practice and by promoting mutual understanding through educational and cultural activities. NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities for summer, semester and academic year language learning in Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Russian and Turkish. NSLI-Y scholars are between 15- and18-years old. Through Stott’s participation in the program, he will be in the vanguard of international communication and will develop the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community.