Ashley Johnson of Coppell Receives State Department Scholarship to Study in China This Summer

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Ashley Johnson

GEORGETOWN, TX (03/21/2012)(readMedia)-- Ashley Johnson of Coppell has been selected to participate in a 2012 intensive summer institute in China sponsored by the U. S. Department of State and other organizations.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is part of a U.S. government effort to increase the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. The program provides intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences that last seven to 10 weeks.

Johnson will be studying in Beijing.

"I am very excited to finally be able to go to China," she said. "I am especially excited to be going to Beijing since it is the capital and has preserved so much of its rich cultural history."

Johnson is a junior international studies major at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. After she graduates from Southwestern, she hopes to be accepted into a dual degree program to obtain a master's degree in international studies and a J.D. in international law. Her eventual goal is to work for the State Department as a foreign service officer.

"To work for the State Department or to do any business with China, fluency in Chinese is a necessary skill," Johnson said. "The fact that (the CLS program) is fully funded was a huge factor in my decision to apply since so many study abroad programs are very expensive."

Only about one out of every 10 students who apply for the CLS program are selected to participate. Johnson is the second Southwestern University student to be selected for the program in the past three years.