Saint Leo Students who want to pursue independent projects around the world have a wonderful opportunity coming up. Indeed, students looking to follow their academic passions and interests somewhere around the globe are encouraged to apply for the Yvain Grant.
As described by Kenneth Posner, Associate Vice President of Student Services, on the Saint Leo website, “Yvain the knight of the Lion was known as a valiant knight who sat at the wound table with King Arthur and was known for his sense of adventure and love of travel.”
The Yvain Study Abroad Project Grant of Saint Leo University wants to stimulate students to open their horizons on the world through a study abroad project or an experimental-learning opportunity.
In order to be eligible for one of the eight awards, evenly distributed of $1,250 for the pursuit of an international project, students need to meet two criteria. First, students must be enrolled full-time at Saint Leo University. Second, they must have a minimum of 2.7 GPA.
Students must complete an application form, which must contain some general information about their Yvain project, a 750-word project description, a 750-word personal statement, a tentative itinerary, and a budget (description of costs) for their travel.
The application can be found on the Saint Leo website and must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. (Eastern) on Mar. 18. They have to be emailed to Dr. David Felsen at david.felsen@saintleo.edu. As requested, please indicate “Yvain Application” in the subject line of the email. The awardees will be announced by Mar. 30.
Felsen is the executive director of the office of International Affair, and has been involved in this program since the beginning in 2014.
According to Felsen, the goal of Yvain Grant is, “To offer students the opportunity to pursue an international project, which they design. Students can travel anywhere around the world to realize a dream or a goal with help from the University. It will be a valuable learning experience for students.”
Felsen discussed a few of the fascinating projects that have been made. Some of the countries visited last year included Peru, Italy, France and Costa Rica. The project in Italy explored small and medium sized businesses as an independent study. The project in Costa Rica became involved with an existing research institute.
The Division of Academic Affair at Saint Leo University funds the Yvain Study Abroad program. Last year, approximately 10 applications were received and this year the committee, formed of three people, expects approximately 50 applications because it is better publicized than the previous years.
The type of projects to be realized are wide open but are suggested to be research oriented, to be a service experience or to be a visit a special site around the world.
The best core value to describe the awards is personal development because the awardees will grow from the experience. Responsible Stewardship is another important core value since students will learn to be responsible for themselves in accomplishing a goal of their own.
Asked where he sees the Yvain Grant in the next 5 years, Felsen hopes the impact of the awards will continue to grow, the awardees will become ambassadors following their return from fulfilling their travels and he expects that more funds will be allocated in the future.
