The fellowship program works with four other universities in addition to Carnegie Mellon: Princeton University; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. Nix’s institution, Carnegie Mellon, only accepted 20 students. Around 600 apply each year to the program as a whole.
Nix is a double major in Japanese and international affairs, and is currently studying abroad in Hirakata, Japan. She is a Yeager Scholar and past recipient of the AATJ Bridging Scholarship and the Boren Scholarship. When not studying abroad, among other things, she is also an INTO conversation partner, a member of Marshall’s Japan Club, and a member of the university’s Amnesty International chapter. Her research is particularly focused on foreign workers’ role in Japan and how they are treated within the Japanese government. In addition to graduate school plans, Nix is also considering working for the Peace Corps.
Originally from Huntington, Nix is the first Marshall student to win a PPIA Fellowship. “By participating in a PPIA Junior Summer Institute, I will be better equipped to handle the differences found in various US communities,” Nix said. “I would be working alongside a group of individuals with similar interests in promoting and maintaining diversity.”
In addition to the coursework’s tuition, the PPIA Fellowship funds a $1,000 stipend, airfare, university housing with meal plan, books and course materials, a fee waiver to graduate schools in the PPIA Consortium and a $5,000 scholarship to a PPIA graduate school if admitted for a master’s degree.
For more information on PPIA, please visit www.ppiaprogram.org or contact Mallory Carpenter, program manager for national scholarships by e-mail at Mallory.carpenter@marshall.edu, or by phone at 304-696-2475.