Walters State Students Study in Asia, Europe

Dr. Erika Stevens led a Spanish course in Spain earlier this summer. This picture was taken in Seville. From left are Aaron Laws of Newport; Sophia Normirzaeva of Dandridge; Haleigh Ferguson of New Market; Maria Vega Constaneda of Morristown; Stevens, and Tatyana Alligood of Sevierville.

International Travel Scholarship Encourages Study Abroad

     Twenty-one Walters State Community College students saw the world this summer with the help of the college’s International Travel Scholarship. Scholarships are awarded annually through an essay contest and interview process.
     “We want to give students the opportunity to travel while they are here,” said Dr. Erika Stevens professor of Spanish and coordinator of the study abroad program at Walters State. 
     Students, all from Walters State’s service area, traveled to Japan, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, South Korea, France, Italy, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
     The scholarship pays $2,500 toward a study abroad course with the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies (TnCIS). TnCIS organizes trips led by community college faculty teaching subjects as varied as photography, criminal justice and biology. Students experience a new culture while receiving academic credit. The cost is around $5,000 and time abroad ranges from six days to three weeks. Students do not have to receive a scholarship to travel.
     “Imagine studying Shakespeare in England or study Spanish in Spain,” said Stevens.
     “In and around London, students can visit the places where Shakespeare lived and worked. In Spain, students stay in host families and are immersed in Spanish. These trips offer an enhanced and unique learning opportunity.”  
     Stevens, who teaches Spanish in Spain, said the program offers a safe and affordable way to travel while still in college.
     “Students have an instructor and a program director who knows the area. There are emergency protocols in place should something happen,” Stevens said. 

The following students received study abroad scholarships to travel during the summer of 2025:
Kyle Joseph Monnin, Seymour, Scotland
Amelia Marie Bills, Union County, Italy
Eyli Sofia Palacios, Sevierville, France
Madison Bosworth, Morristown, Japan
Kadence Coffman, Morristown, Ireland
Maria Castaneda, Morristown, Spain
Lizhen Zeng, Sharps Chapel, South Korea
Wade Walters, Morristown, Japan
Sarah Anne Mathis, Greeneville, Italy
Emily Rose Davis, Greeneville, Grand European Capitals
Sophia Normirzaeva, Dandridge, Spain
Travis Rawlinson, Sevierville, the Alps
Hayleigh Ferguson, New Market, Spain
Akbar Aarifov, Pigeon Forge, Japan
Tatyana Alligood, Sevierville, Spain
Charlie Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Morristown, Ireland
Jocelyn Betancourt, Morristown, Scotland
Aaron Laws, Newport, Spain
Marcelo Vargas, Newport, the Alps.
Cadence Rains, Speedwell, Grand European Capitals
Camryn Horton, Sevierville, Scotland