Rhodes junior Brian Tchang has been selected to receive a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study in South Korea this summer. The CLS Program is extremely selective with more than 4,900 applications submitted for the 2013 program.
Tchang, who is a business major with a Chinese studies minor, is interested in integrating his passion for accounting with his language proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and Korean. In the summer of 2012 as the recipient of Rhodes’ William Theodore Eckels International Business Internship, he worked in the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China with the Commercial Service. Shortly following his internship, he began an intensive culture and language program with the Council on International Educational Exchange at Nanjing University as a recipient of the U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
The CLS curriculum at Yonsei University in Wonju, Korea provides an intensive eight-week language/cultural immersion program requiring participants to speak only Korean during program activities and to experience a homestay with a local Korean family for one week. Participants also will get the opportunity to be involved in community service projects utilizing their Korean language and culture knowledge and skills.
After graduating from Rhodes, Tchang would like to pursue a master’s degree in accounting while simultaneously beginning the national CPA examination. “Ideally, if all goes as planned, I would like to either begin my career in public accounting or work for the U.S. Department of State,” he says.
A native Memphian, Tchang graduated from Houston High School and came to Rhodes as a Bonner Scholar. “My commitment to community service has truly shaped me into the individual I am today,” says Tchang. “While I was in China, I furthered my cultural understanding through my service work and hope to do the same this summer.”