A Gift to Fuel a Semester of Growth
English majors looking for a bit of adventure can apply for the Arlette Belkin Study Abroad Scholarship
English majors looking for a bit of adventure can apply for the Arlette Belkin Study Abroad Scholarship
By Siena Giljum (COM’22)
When Nicole Masnicak (CAS’20) signed up to study abroad in Sydney, Australia in spring 2019, her goal was to just “experience life outside of [her] dorm.” She’s an English major, so the continent’s native language (and warmer weather, of course) helped her choose where to spend half of her junior year. Her original plan centered on soaking up the sun between classes, but with the help from her advisor, a special donation, and a curiosity for her temporary home, she got a little bit more.
For Nicole, “life beyond” BU Sydney ended up including taking spring break in New Zealand, definitively ranking Tim Tam biscuit flavors on her blog, checking out street art in a suburb, and, yes, reading a good book on Bondi Beach. It also meant gaining a more global perspective on and appreciation for the English language and its versatility. Nicole discovered that American English and Australian English, while the same language, have their own distinctions.
Classes at BU Sydney, as well as the proximity of her apartment to downtown Sydney, helped Nicole feel immersed in the culture and language. Cultural touchstones like the Powerhouse Museum and the iconic Sydney Opera House were not only minutes from her apartment but provided the crucial backdrop for her semester, and as part of the program, she took a course on Australian culture. The class explored the politics, history, economy, and pop culture of the nation. Nicole also took a literature class and read the books, plays, and poems Australian students study in school—works she had never explored despite being an English major.
Sometimes experiences like these aren’t possible without the help of others. Her travels were funded in part by the Arlette Belkin Study Abroad Scholarship, which provides $2,500 to an English major studying abroad to help them subsidize their adventures outside the classroom. The scholarship is named for Arlette Belkin, a 1955 cum laude graduate of Boston University’s English department and an avid reader, teacher, and traveler.
After Arlette’s death, her husband Eugene and daughter Andrea sought out ways to continue her legacy and remember her fervor for seeing the world. Considering Arlette’s English major, global mindset, and passion for service, the Arlette Belkin Study Abroad Scholarship was born. Her family hoped, with their gift, to give the humanities the appreciation they deserve, as Arlette did in her studies and teaching career. “The humanities are not necessarily getting the love that they deserve in terms of students majoring in them because … there’s a lot of emphasis on STEM,” says Andrea Epstein, in explaining her gift.
“It’s nice the scholarship exists because they want to keep supporting the humanities, keep supporting the people studying the language we speak,” Nicole says.
Nicole not only discovered new types of snack foods and a greater appreciation for the English language, but also had to quickly adapt to her independence. “Usually if I’m in Boston and I’m having a bad day, I can call my mom and she’ll pick up because we’re in the same time zone, but in Australia … I had to deal with it on my own.” Nicole remarks about how being abroad taught her how to grocery shop alone, share an apartment with people she didn’t know at first, make friends quickly, and adapt to professional setbacks.
She didn’t end up getting the internship she applied for in Australia and was disappointed. “I wanted to work in a publishing house, but there was only one publishing house,” Nicole explains. After a few other suggestions outside of her field of study, her advisor recommended a different opportunity working at the marketing agency MamaTray. There, Nicole worked on campaigns and rebranding tasks.
“It was a very small agency, but I absolutely loved it. My supervisor was fantastic. I still keep in touch with her now, and I learned so many new and cool things that I never would have thought about before, so I’m very glad that I did it.” It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do but the confidence she was gaining abroad helped make it a rewarding experience.
Another Belkin Scholarship recipient, Aranya Tatapudi (CAS’19), studied in London in 2018 and also discovered how her studies could help her pursue another passion. “I was in an interesting place. I was finishing my English major during junior year,” Aranya says. “I knew I had a strong interest in film and television, and I wanted more industry experience on my resume for that.” She says her abroad experience and interest in media fueled a double major and helped land her an internship at Pilot Productions, a UK-based documentary company, while in London.
“[As] a production assistant for them, I did a lot of office and administrative work, and I learned a lot about researching for films, researching for documentaries, editing footage,” Aranya says.
“I think at that point I was finally figuring out that—I knew my English skills would help me—but what I really wanted to do was pursue a career in entertainment,” she says. “I think [the internship] really informed my confidence, and made me feel like I could go on to do other production jobs,” she says. Aranya is now part of the NBCUniversal Page Program, a career choice she was able to make partially because she stepped out of her comfort zone in London.
Both Nicole and Aranya cite the Belkin Scholarship as an important, special part of their abroad experiences that allowed them to travel, worry less, and explore more. Nicole loved traveling so much, she even went abroad to London the very next semester. By embarking alone on journeys to other parts of the world, both Nicole and Aranya overcame their fears, embraced the experience, and discovered more deeply what truly drives them—and their place in the wider world.
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English majors who wish to study abroad in the fall semester are welcome to apply for the Arlette Belkin Study Abroad Scholarship here. Please note that while it has previously been offered for the spring semester, it is now being offered for the fall.
Siena Giljum studies journalism in the College of Communication (’22) with a Spanish minor in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is from Southern California and hopes to one day write for The Atlantic. She loves podcasts and avocados, in no particular order.
(Photo credits: Nicole Masnicak, Andrea Epstein, and Johnny Bhalla on Unsplash)