Shippensburg student studies in China

A Shippensburg University student is spending the 2007-08 academic year studying in China thanks to a national award he received.

Johnpaul Bennett, son of Michael and Lynn Marie Bennett of New Cumberland, is one of 12 students in the United States to win the Freeman Awards for Study in Asia (Freeman-ASIA) grant from the Institute of International Education (IIE.) IIE is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes closer educational relations between the United States and many other foreign countries, by issuing Freeman-ASIA grants to more than 18,000 people from 175 nations each year.

The grant is funding Bennett’s studies at Beijing Central University for Nationalities and then Shanghai East China Normal University, retrospectively, this fall semester and the Spring 2008 semester. In his first week in China, Bennett visited the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and other historical sites.

“I am learning more of the language and have begun to adventure out on my own,” said Bennett, a sophomore finance major student. “This experience has been very exciting and eye opening since I was able to interact with students from all over the world. I am honored and blessed to have received such a prestigious award.”

While studying in China, he will take three classes designed to help students in the program adjust to another way of life, focusing on such topics as language, ethnic studies and culture. In the classes, student scholars talk about issues based on their country’s perspective to promote discussion and understanding of different societies.