PARSIPPANY — Mishti Borkar, a Lake Hiawatha resident, has been awarded a prestigious scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program and will travel to South Korea this summer to study the Korean language.
Mishti is one of only 440 students selected nationwide from thousands of high school applicants to receive this competitive scholarship. During her time in South Korea, she will live with a host family, engage with local students, immerse herself in Korean culture, and act as a citizen ambassador, representing American culture abroad.
The NSLI-Y program, launched in 2006, is a critical U.S. government initiative to promote the study of languages deemed essential to national security and economic competitiveness. These include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian, and Turkish.
Administered by the American Councils for International Education in cooperation with several partner organizations, the program allows students to develop cross-cultural communication and leadership skills while gaining fluency in a critical foreign language.
Applications for the NSLI-Y program are accepted each fall and can be found at www.nsliforyouth.org. The State Department also encourages American families to consider hosting international exchange students, offering a unique and rewarding way to welcome a new language and culture into their homes and communities.
