Gabriela Salgado ’17 dreams of becoming an ethnic studies college professor and is well on her way to achieving her career goal. The Whittier Scholars Program major and Hawthorne, CA native, is maximizing her opportunities at Whittier College to explore her interests in languages, culture, and social sciences.
In her short college career, Salgado has been awarded three undergraduate fellowships, which are opening doors and making it possible for her to conduct research at Whittier and abroad.
Through her Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF), Salgado is preparing for graduate level work by working on a project with her mentor, Assistant Professor of Chinese Kenneth Berthel.
“We are examining how the ethnic identities of first and second generation Asian and Latinos are influenced by interactions with one another and if these ethnic identities instill a sense of camaraderie amongst each other,” said Salgado. Another benefit of the MMUF program is the fellowship created amongst a peer cohort with the shared goal of becoming Ph.Ds. “Over the course of our summer workshop, I feel I truly bonded with everyone in the program. I feel that I’m part of a community of scholars now.”
Thanks to a Minority Serving Institutions Fellowship, Salgado attended the Japanese Summer Language School at Middlebury College in Vermont last summer in preparation for a study abroad experience in Tokyo.
As a first generation college student, study abroad always seemed out of her reach. But with the aid of the Gilman Fellowship and the American Association of Teachers of Japanese Scholarship, she traveled to Japan to study at J.F. Oberlin University for a full semester.
“The two greatest treasures I acquired throughout my time in Vermont and Tokyo were everlasting friendships and personal growth,” added Salgado.
Salgado completed a service project, a requirement for the Gilman Fellowship, in which she conducted a series of presentations about her study abroad experience to encourage others—especially first generation students—to seriously consider foreign study.
