News

Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients Selected

This year's recipients of the SBS Spring Study Abroad Fellowship, funded
by Chris McCabe '81: Christopher Cappucci, Diana Franco, Sara Afzal
and Victoria Corcoran

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences understands that many students—now more than ever—need financial assistance to help their dreams come true. And because SBS encourages its students to study abroad for a semester or two, or at least a summer, we are working hard to make more funds available to help support this experience. This year, for the first time, the College was able to give scholarships to four students who will be spending the spring semester abroad (for a number of years we have granted scholarships for summer and fall participants, but program deadlines precluded eligibility for spring candidates).

Chris McCabe '81 (political science), now a managing director in the technology unit of the international middle market investment firm, Piper Jaffray, provided the funds for the spring awards. He says that his own undergraduate study abroad experience in France was "life changing." Until he took advantage of this opportunity, he was unclear about the direction his life would take. "Being in France," he says, "gave me new perspectives, new attitudes, and an understanding of the world beyond anything I had ever imagined. It's important to make these experiences available to as many students as possible."

This year's recipients of the SBS Spring Study Abroad scholarships are Sara Afzal '10 (journalism), Christopher Cappucci '10 (political science), Victoria Corcoran '10 (sociology) and Diana Franco '10 (psychology).

Sara, whose family is from Iran, came to UMass Amherst from South Natick, MA. Fluent in Farsi, Sara has written about the experiences of Iranian youth for the Daily Collegian. For the past two years she has worked for the UMass Amherst Office of News and Information, and she held a summer internship with the Wellesley Townsman. With plans to eventually become a foreign correspondent—she is doing a French minor—Sara will use her SBS Spring Study Abroad Scholarship to help defray the cost of her semester at the University of Paris, and she’ll be blogging about her experience.

Chris will graduate with minors in biology and Spanish, and a certificate in international relations. Recently of Newburyport, MA, Chris grew up in New Mexico. He is president of the student activist group, Advancing Democracy, has completed an internship at the Massachusetts State House and is also a member and contributor to Poetry Soup Magazine. Chris will spend his semester abroad in Oviedo, Spain. His plans for the future include studying international law.

Victoria is completing a minor in Spanish and hopes that her time abroad in Granada, Spain, will deepen her understanding of Spanish culture and broaden her perspective of the world. This native of Quincy, MA, has worked for the resource and referral program at the Everywoman’s Center at UMass Amherst and as a teacher’s aid in the Acton, MA after-school program.

Diana, a native of Worcester, MA, will be spending the spring semester in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. A resident assistant at UMass Amherst since 2007, she serves as an election commissioner for the student government association and as an usher in the Fine Arts Center. Diana, who plans to become a social worker, volunteers her time with a number of organizations, including North Amherst Head Start Program and the American Cancer Association’s Relay for Life. She has participated in alternative spring break in Kentucky and is involved in IMPACT!, a year-long service learning residential academic program for first-year students. Completing a minor in education, Diana is a member of Psi Chi, the honor society for psychology majors, and captain of one of the intramural soccer teams at UMass Amherst.

Congratulations go to these students, who emerged from a large pool of applicants. If you are interested in helping students with scholarships for study abroad, please contact the SBS Development Office now: 413.545.7187. Or, if you'd like to make a gift online, click here, and select Study Abroad for your allocation under College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

December 17, 2008