Student Stories

Johnnie Allen Jr.

Johnnie Allen Jr. is a senior graduating in May 2020 with a major in community health from the School of Public Health.

María González-Díaz

María González-Díaz is a senior graduating May 2020 with a double major in International Studies and Portuguese.

Julian Gass

The amount of scholarships available for college students often seems vast and ripe for the taking, but there are specific scholarships that hold more weight than others.

Kevin Phan

Kevin Phan is a rising senior majoring in East Asian Languages and Cultures, focusing in Japanese, and minoring in Creative Technologies and Asian American Studies as well as a student assistant at the Asian Culture Center.

Alaina Roberts

Researching her own family's lineage

"I found out that there had not really been much research done on that at all and so, I wanted to tell the story of my ancestors and other people like them."

Jermaine Williams

Groups Scholars Program

"They gave us so many resources and I met so many people. From then on, I knew IU was the place where I wanted to go."

Alyssa de la Rosa

"I think having a time to focus on highlighting Asian and Pacific cultures is important, because as a minority, the majority or mainstream culture gets the spotlight."

Eric Langowski

It’s about education and showing everyone else exactly how diverse and how much is going on. I think that’s what the events we put together will do."

French and cultural immersion in Morocco

Mica Caine, Hudson & Holland Scholar

"Do it, don’t be scared, and to a degree, definitely don’t listen to other people who haven’t been abroad. That can be the biggest hindrance, listening to all the concerns of your family and friends."

India's insightful experience

Chesley Swann, Hudson & Holland Scholar

With OVPDEI, you get that whole academic sense, but they’re also there to support you, like a family.

An exemplary peer mentor

Lizette Munoz, FASE mentor

"I love being a mentor. I did it in high school with middle-school students, so I definitely wanted to continue doing it in college."

Finding a home at La Casa

Gabriel Escobedo, Graduate Assistant at La Casa Latino Cultural Center

“Immediately, the directors treated me like family. I felt like they were my aunts.”

From barely speaking to Commencement speaker

Grace Shen, 2016 IU Bloomington Commencement speaker

“When you do start the conversation, you learn a lot from each other.”

The first in her family to go to college

Chantel White, Groups Scholar

“Our parents tried as hard as they could, but they didn’t know the first thing about buying college textbooks.”