Thanks to private donations and matching state funds, the endowed scholarship has grown, and two additional one-semester scholarships have been added. To date, the Bredahl Scholarships have given approximately 20 students the opportunity to live and study in such countries as Russia, China, Poland, Egypt, Kenya, Japan, England, and Italy. Bonnie decided to attend UF because of the anthropology department's excellent reputation. Since she paid for school out of her own pocket, a scholarship was the only way Bonnie could afford to study abroad. She applied for the Bredahl Scholarship because, unlike some other study abroad scholarships, it does not require language fluency.
Many people learn best if they are immersed in the culture.
That has always been the case for me, and even though I wasn't fluent in any language prior to my trip, I learned Swahili while in Kenya, and since then I have learned French fluently and have medium fluency in Spanish. Using the Bredahl Scholarship, Bonnie participated in the Minnesota Studies in International Development Program in Kenya. Before going to Kenya, Bonnie spent a quarter in Minnesota learning about Kenyan culture and development. Then, in January 1995, Bonnie and 100 other students landed in Nairobi and had intensive language classes for two weeks. After that, we all went to different areas of the country where we worked as interns.