Blake Traeger, a Starr’s Mill High School student, has been awarded one of over 600 National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarships for 2012-2013. The NSLI-Y program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and provides merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly-taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs.
The NSLI-Y scholarship enables Traeger to study Chinese in China for the summer. The scholarship covers all program costs for participants including domestic and international travel; tuition and related academic preparation; language testing; educational and cultural activities focused on language learning; orientations; meals; and accommodations, commonly with a host family.
Launched as part of a U.S. Government initiative in 2006, NSLI-Y seeks to increase Americans’ capacity to engage with native speakers of critical languages by providing formal and informal language learning and practice and by promoting mutual understanding through educational and cultural activities. NSLI-Y offers overseas study opportunities to high school students for summer and academic-year language learning in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajik), Russian, and Turkish.
The goals of the NSLI-Y program include sparking a life-long interest in foreign languages and cultures, and developing a corps of young Americans with the skills necessary to advance international dialogue in the private, academic or government sectors, building upon the foundations developed through person-to-person relationships while abroad.
Through his participation in the program, Traeger will be in the vanguard of international communication and will develop the skills necessary to be a leader in the global community.
Traeger is a junior at Starr’s Mill High School. He is a three-year starter on the varsity tennis team, a bass in SMHS Chanticleer Advanced Chorus, a member of the men’s ensemble Men of the Mill, and a member of Beta Club, Spanish National Honor Society, and the National Honor Society. Traeger is a 4.0 student, dual-enrolled at SMHS and Clayton State University, Fayette. He is also the co-founder of a choral mentoring program, where he and several other male volunteers from SMHS work weekly with middle-school aged boys in the Rising Starr Middle School Chorus to help nurture a lifelong love of singing.
Traeger plans to study international relations and attend a Chinese Flagship Program after graduating high school. He sees the NSLI-Y scholarship and his impending trip to China as a way to jumpstart his Chinese language education.
