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Seven undergrads awarded 2025 Critical Language Scholarships!

We are very pleased to announce that seven UC Berkeley students have been awarded the U.S. Government’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), a fully-funded 8–10-week overseas language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students at every level of language learning. The next application deadline will be in November 2025 (for summer 2026 programs). Students in any year of college are eligible to apply! Please join us in congratulating the following students: Alexandra “Sasha” Bergseid (’29, EECS) will be spending the summer in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, continuing her study of Russian.

Danielle Tran (‘25) Named 2024 Beinecke Scholar

Rising senior Danielle Tran, an English major minoring in Creative Writing and Education, has been selected as one of the outstanding undergraduates in the 2024 cohort of Beinecke Scholars. This prestigious scholarship provides $35,000 ($5,000 prior to graduate study and $15,000 per year) for two years of graduate study in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Eighty colleges and universities from across the U.S. (including UC Berkeley) are invited to nominate one student for the scholarship, and twenty scholarships are awarded nationwide. Most Beinecke recipients are at the top of

Cal Alum Mengyu Dong (’15) Selected as 2022 Knight-Hennessy Scholar

Mengyu Dong (Political Science/History, ‘15) has been awarded a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship to support her graduate studies in journalism at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences. Recipients of this prestigious scholarship are selected from an international pool of applicants based on their independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and civic mindset. In addition to receiving financial support for their graduate programs, Knight-Hennessy Scholars gain exposure to a wide range of disciplines and cultures in their cohort and participate in the King Global Leadership Program, which is designed to develop transformational leadership capabilities.

Emma Cusimano

Emma Cusimano (‘27, Molecular Environmental Biology/Chemistry minor) is excited to be selected as a 2025 NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholar. She grew up exploring the Utah mountains skiing, backpacking, hiking, and fly fishing, which sparked her love for nature. She is interested in all things science, sustainability, and nature, and wants to dedicate her career to environmental research and protection. At Berkeley, Emma has been involved in student-led environmental organizations, served as the co-vice president of the Surfrider Foundation student club, and planned many sustainable events to raise money

Arya Vishin

Arya Vishin (‘25, English/South Asian Studies) will spend his summer studying Hindi in Jaipur, India. He is a senior from San Jose, California, currently writing his honors thesis in South Asian Studies. Some of his research interests include theater and performance studies, poetry/poetics, and adaptation/appropriation. Last year, he studied Kashmiri in Gurgaon through the AIIS, and is excited to return to India for another summer of language learning. In the fall, he will utilize his training as he starts his PhD in Harvard’s department of Comparative Literature.

Giselle Carreño

Giselle Carreño (‘25, Business Administration/Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature) is a first-generation Latina college student raised in a low-income Hispanic community in Northern California. She developed a love for building community through language by translating at clinics, churches, and her school district. Through this experience, she gave Spanish-speaking individuals access to free healthcare and educational resources. At Berkeley, she developed an interest in Portuguese to reach all of Latin America and connect cultures through her work as VP of Professional Development at the Latinx Business Student Association. This summer

Khephra Owl

Khephra Owl (’25, Educational Sciences) will be traveling to Okayama, Japan to study Japanese. She grew up watching Ghibli movies such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, which led her to studying various aspects of Japanese culture, such as Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, and Japanese ghost stories. In 2023, she studied abroad in Kyoto, Japan through UCEAP and discovered several stark contrasts between US and Japanese cultures, which showed her the value of learning from each other in areas such as self-expression and honoring tradition. As a transfer student, Khephra

Tiffany Mar

Tiffany Mar (’25, Society and Environment, Data Science minor) is excited to be a part of the CLS 2025 cohort to explore Bahasa Indonesia. She is interested in exploring how community-driven solutions can solve pressing sustainability challenges. In the future, she would like to use her Indonesian skills to pursue a career in geospatial research where she can advocate for both people and the planet. In her free time, Tiffany enjoys making music, exploring martial arts, and picnicking with friends on the Glade.