Trine student receives grant for study in Amsterdam

A Trine University student will receive a grant for her study abroad experience in Amsterdam this fall.

Margaret Delmont, a junior from Avon, Indiana, majoring in communication, has been awarded a CIEE Gilman Go Global Grant by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). The grant will provide $1,500 toward international airfare and $2,500 toward Delmont’s fees in the CIEE Social Sciences Program in Amsterdam.

The program will be Delmont’s second study abroad experience while at Trine. She was part of a Trine group that studied in China during the summer of 2016.

“I have been planning my college experience around an international education experience since I came to Trine my freshman year,” Delmont said. “I decided that I wanted to study abroad in Europe because I wanted to have the opportunity and convenience of traveling to other countries. I've had a number of friends who have studied abroad in Europe, and each one of them had nothing but amazing things to say about Amsterdam.

“Another factor in my decision was that Amsterdam is a city with a large focus on sustainability, and that is something that is very important to me. They have more bikes than people. That's pretty cool.”

The focus of the CIEE Social Sciences Program in Amsterdam is for students to examine the social, political and cultural realities of life in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Europe. During the program Delmont will stay with a local family, study the Dutch language, take courses in the social sciences and humanities and participate in volunteer activities and special interest groups.

“I think that I'm most excited to gain the international student perspective firsthand,” Delmont said. ““I've spent a lot of my time at Trine working with international students through the Office of International Services and the Office of Student Success and Retention. I've enjoyed getting to know and forging friendships with students from a wide variety of countries and learning about their cultural perspectives.”