For the second year in a row, the University's Arabic Studies department has produced undergraduates who have earned an opportunity usually exclusively reserved for professors and graduate students.
John William Crocker III and Aurelie Evangeline Perrier were selected as winners of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad fellowships, giving them scholarships to study Arabic for a year in Cairo, Egypt.
"It's like a boot camp of Arabic," said Mohammed Sawaie, University director of Arabic studies. "But there's lots of fun in it."
Recipients of the award receive full tuition and a monthly stipend of $400 to cover room and board at the American Language Institute at the American University of Cairo.
The applicants first must pass a rigorous test to be considered for the scholarship.
"It was probably the hardest test I've ever taken in my life," Crocker said. "I came out of the test feeling certain that I was never going to get in because I'd done so badly."
The exam consists of a four-to-five hour written section and a short interview conducted entirely in Arabic.
Crocker, a fourth-year double major in foreign affairs and Middle Eastern studies, also mentioned the fears his family had voiced concerning possible security hazards he risked encountering overseas.
"Some members of my family don't want me to go at all," Crocker said. However, it will be both practical and beneficial in the long run, he said.
"I want to spend some time working in the region, and speaking Arabic is critical," he added.
Similarly, Perrier, a fourth-year philosophy major from France, decided to apply for the program out of an interest in the culture.
"I took a class on Middle Eastern culture first semester and fell in love," Perrier said. "Because Arabic is one of the most difficult languages, I felt that only through the intense CASA program could I become fluent."
Both Crocker and Perrier mentioned their plans to continue their studies in Arabic in graduate school.
The scholarships are sponsored by CASA, an institution established to offer advanced Arabic language training at the American University in Cairo.
Undergraduates often are discouraged from applying because only 15 slots are open to graduates, professors and undergraduates from all American colleges.
However, coming on the heels of last year's winner, University graduate Ben Smith, Sawaie believes the trio of achievements will serve as an incentive for other undergraduates to follow.
"The perception is that Arabic is hard," Sawaie said. "But it is still learnable."
The past three years have seen an increase in interest in Arabic studies at the University with over twice the average number of students enrolling in introductory Arabic classes.
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