Elaina Radden

The FLAS award helped me progress in Japanese by allowing me to take a whole summer to just focus on the language and not be distracted by other courses. I was able to converse for 4+ hours a day in my target language and strengthen friendships with my classmates who I continue to practice speaking Japanese with. Also, as a Sophomore I am close to completing Japanese courses that are usually meant for Junior standing students, making me feel very accomplished.

Some advice I would give to a UW student thinking about applying for FLAS would be: don’t freak out. For example, of you can’t think of what professor to ask for a recommendation because, lets be honest, it is really hard to get close to a professor in classes of 300 students, it is ok to ask TA’s or advisors (unless you are a grad student, because then professor recommendations are highly encouraged). So don’t worry about that, and with your essays just be honest. Don’t be afraid to talk about yourself and your goals, this scholarship is meant to help you reach your goals, not be an obstacle. So don’t freak out, you got this!