Wesley Chapel Native Jerisa Upton Receives Critical Language Scholarship to Study in Beijing

VILLANOVA, PA (06/29/2011)(readMedia)-- Jerisa Upton, a Wesley Chapel native and rising sophomore at Villanova University, has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese in Beijing this summer. The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages.

Upton has been studying Chinese since middle school, teaching herself Mandarin through language books and enrolling in Chinese Saturday School in her Florida hometown. Despite being self-taught, Upton tested into Advanced Chinese her first year at Villanova as a Presidential Scholar.

In addition to her studies, Upton is very active in the Villanova community as a cheerleader and volunteers as a tutor for underprivileged communities.

Since 1993, more than 965 Villanova University students have applied for national fellowships. Of those, 274 advanced to finalist status while 159 received awards.

For more information about the Critical Language Scholarship Program, please visit: http://clscholarship.org/

For more information about Villanova University, please visit: www.villanova.edu