YSU senior receives scholarship, plans to travel to Russia

Staff report

youngstown

Sarah Mindek of Bristol, a senior majoring in psychology at Youngstown State University, has been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship.

Mindek will be traveling to St. Petersburg, Russia, this summer for five weeks, and the $2,500 award will help to offset the trip’s cost.

Mindek, who attended Bristol High School, has earned an associate degree in music recording, a technical degree in ultrasound and is also finishing classes to be a registered diagnostic medical sonographer.

“I’m nervous,” she said. “I don’t know what to expect. I’ve taken two semesters of Russian, but just basic conversation.”

She hopes to be inspired by the architecture and history, and to improve her language skills while she is there.

Mindek just finished her term as the vice president of the Women and Gender Studies Club on campus and was elected president for fall 2014. She is also a member the National Alliance on Mental Illness and volunteers at the Bella Women’s Center.

The Gilman International Scholarship Program offers grants for undergraduate students of limited financial means to pursue academic studies abroad.

Award recipients are chosen by a competitive selection process.

The program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and is administered by the Institute of International Education.