"It was the best trip I have ever been on in my life!" ~Artie Livermore, Kirk Scholar, May 2001

"I had so much fun hanging out with our Chinese friends.  They took us shopping, and we told them about American culture. We even took them for their first hot fudge sundaes!"

    ~Justine Schott, Kirk Scholar, 2004-2005

"My experience learning Mandarin has been amazing.  I love learning the characters because they are so much more interesting and beautiful than written English."

~Jenna Wickenhofer, Kirk Scholar, 2005-2006

"It is particularly important to learn Mandarin because it helps us not be so ethnocentric as Americans.  Experiencing another culture gives us a more realistic world view."

~Reed Kennedy, Kirk Scholar Faculty Member, 2005-2006

"Before becoming a Kirk Scholar, I knew about the Chinese culture from sources such as books, videos, television, and the Internet.  Now I know about China through my own experience, which is something that is immeasurable in value." 

~Becky Rust, Kirk Scholar, 2004-2005

"You always hear about the Great Wall, but you never think to yourself, 'I'm going to walk on that one day.'"

 ~ Lauren Estes, Kirk Scholar, May 2000

"My favorite part of learning Mandarin has been how close I have become with my classmates and of course, Fu Laoshi!"

~Ashlee Cossaboon, Kirk Scholar, 2005-2006

"Studying in China was intense because not only were you learning the language, but you were also learning the culture everyday through living and traveling around the cities."

~Becky Rust, Kirk Scholar, 2004-2005

"Traveling to China was amazing!  I had never been out of the country, so being in China was incredibly eye-opening.  I'll have memories of China for the rest of my life."

~Shelley Gentry, Kirk Scholar, 2004-2005