Jessica Yan, a graduate of CU Boulder and a Tang Fund scholar, was recently awarded a coveted Schwartzman scholarship to study in a one-year Master’s program in global affairs at Tsinghua University, Beijing. In 2018, Jessica went to China as one of the twelve students selected for a Tang Fund scholarship in the CU Global Seminar, Discovering Urban China program, which was taught by CAS Asian Studies Instructor Colleen Berry. A first generation student and daughter of Chinese immigrant parents, Jessica had never been to China and was thrilled to have the chance that this scholarship afforded her. While in China, she took advantage of every opportunity to experience the food, see places she had never known existed, and learn as much about the culture as she could in a short time.
The Tang Fund scholarship is such a huge gift to CU students and has had long-lasting impacts on the lives of the students like Jessica who have been selected to participate. Jessica has said that some of the things she experienced in China were life-altering and inspired her to apply for the Schwartzman. Of course, the Tang Fund scholarship was only part of the reason Jessica was selected for this highly competitive award: while a student at CU, she served as the Chair of the Distinguished Speakers Board and participated in both the Norlin and the Leeds Scholars programs. She is passionate about working with underserved groups through activism and leadership. Congratulations from all of us, Jessica!
The next CU Global Seminar with Tang Scholarships available will be in summer 2022 to Taiwan, led by CAS affiliate Tim Weston. For more details, see: https://www.colorado.edu/cas/global-seminars-led-cu-faculty.