For other students, scholarships provided the boost they needed to enrich their college experience with options they could not otherwise have afforded. Chryztina Harding-Graham, a 2023 graduate of the College of the Liberal Arts who majored in English, was able to travel abroad in 2022 with support from the Perreault Fellows Program. The program, funded by Paul and Beverly Perreault, sends students on international internships with the goal of fostering the next generation of global leaders.
Harding-Graham went to Paris, France, and worked as a communications intern for a non-profit called the Pass It On Network, a grassroots network that facilitates productive aging worldwide.
“I never would have been able to go abroad without this fellowship,” she said. “The program exposed me to a whole new context of law and government, and it forced me to adapt to professional and cultural norms. I know I’ve come out of this international experience as a more curious and flexible problem-solver.”
In the course of her internship, Harding-Graham also traveled to a variety of places throughout France, including Normandy, where American, British and Canadian forces landed on D-Day, and the Gardens of Versailles, deepening her understanding of historical events and cultural touchstones.
“As a student, I saw firsthand how scholarships open doors and launch us into experiences that will help us to become the changemakers of tomorrow,” Harding-Graham said. “Now, as a development intern with the Alumni Association, I’m seeing how the generosity of supporters makes all that possible. It’s been an inspiring experience, and I only wish more people could witness the extraordinary impact that philanthropy makes.”
Donors who support scholarships advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients, and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
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