COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. A University of Colorado at Colorado Springs junior recently earned a $10,000 scholarship to study in Cambodia. <\/p>\n
Andrea O’Rourke, Colorado Springs, a political science major, has been selected as a Benjamin Brown Scholar for the spring semester 2005. She is the first student from CU-Colorado Springs to receive this honor. <\/p>\n
The Benjamin Brown Scholarship provides CU students with funding of up to $10,000 to support CU tuition, transportation, housing, food and research expenses to study in the country of their choice. The scholarship aims to enhance American society by promoting language fluency and cross-cultural understanding.<\/p>\n
During her time abroad, O’Rourke will research micro-lending. <\/p>\n
“Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world and has a long history of conflict and strife ,” O’Rourke wrote in her application. “The majority of the population still lacks education and provisional skills. With a GNP per capita of $270 and 36 percent of the population still under the poverty line, Cambodia is in need of new ideas that work. Micro-lending has proven itself to be the most effective in creating sustainable employment for the otherwise unemployed. Loans as little as $25, and up to $300, enable the poor to start their own businesses.”<\/p>\n
Her project involves learning how a micro-lending program should be structured in Cambodia and researching and implementing ideas for simple and easily run businesses. Some of the businesses that O’Rourke envisions launching include raising poultry, vegetables, or purchasing a rickshaw to transport goods. Although these businesses may seem small by American standards, their potential in Cambodia is enormous. <\/p>\n
A 2002 graduate of Pine Creek High School, O’Rourke’s previous international travel experience includes trips to Nepal, China, Morocco and Europe.<\/p>\n
The Benjamin Brown Scholarship is offered exclusively to students in the CU System and funds travel and research throughout the world. Named after CU alumnus Dr. Benjamin Brown, the scholarship is designed to support students who desire to complete advanced research abroad. As an undergraduate at CU, Brown had the opportunity to travel abroad, and the experience changed his life. After becoming a successful businessman, Brown embraced the opportunity to share his passion for travel with undergraduate students at his alma mater.<\/p>\n
CU-Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,800 students annually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. A University of Colorado at Colorado Springs junior recently earned a $10,000 scholarship to study in Cambodia. Andrea O’Rourke, Colorado Springs, a political science major, has been selected as a Benjamin Brown (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}