Go Global, Fellow Students

With a Presidential Global Fellowship, an NYIT education can take you anywhere.

NYIT student Linjie Xia used a fellowship to produce his documentary, Elf. His goal? To understand the differences in early childhood education across three cultures and government structures.

Xia interviewed parents and teachers and observed young students in China, Denmark, and the United States. One of his most notable discoveries was how Chinese early childhood education changed across a single generation. One mother described her own kindergarten experience as a limited learning environment (her teachers acted more like caretakers than educators). By contrast, her daughter, now in kindergarten, is thoroughly engaged in learning activities with her teachers.

“Chinese pre-education keeps improving through the decades,” he says.

Xia’s globetrotting fieldwork was made possible by NYIT’s Presidential Global Fellowship program, which awards students up to $5,000 to broaden their perspectives through once-in-a-lifetime learning experiences that take them almost anywhere they want to go.

Since the launch of the Presidential Global Fellowship in 2014, NYIT students have the financial support needed to broaden their global perspective and cross-cultural competencies—essential skills in today’s competitive job market. Research topics conducted by fellows have included:

• Machine learning and artificial intelligence in California.
• Methods of improving earthquake detection in China.
• Developing marketing strategies in Paris to promote an automobile brand to international markets.
• Designing architectural solutions to help victims of natural disasters in Nepal.

Life sciences major/pre-med student Favour Akinjiyan used her Presidential Global Fellowship to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Seattle, Wash., where she presented research and attended events featuring Hannah Valentine, M.D., the chief officer for scientific workforce diversity at the National Institutes of Health; Nobel Prize winner Linda Buck; and Naomi Tutu, the daughter of Bishop Desmond Tutu.

“Prior to attending ABRCMS, my dream of becoming a physician-scientist seemed somewhat unreachable,” says Akinjiyan. “This helped me reflect on how far I’ve come and what I need to work on to get to where I want to be.”

Applications for 2016 Summer/Fall Presidential Global Fellowships are being accepted through May 27.