{"id":32261,"date":"2019-10-10T13:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T17:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=32261"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:12:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:12:39","slug":"igniting-a-global-spark-in-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=32261","title":{"rendered":"Igniting a global spark in students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI want to take away any number of fears that may prevent a student \u2014 who grew up like me \u2014 from studying abroad,\u201d explained Michael-Bryant Hicks \u201996.<\/p>\n

\"Michael-Bryant<\/a>
Michael-Bryant Hicks created a scholarship to support first-generation students of color; it’s named for his son, Marleigh.<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hicks is doing just that through the Marleigh Desmond Hicks Study Abroad Scholarship Fund, which has provided stipends for seven undergraduates. The scholarship supports first-generation students of color as they participate in a University study abroad program.<\/p>\n

Hicks, a corporate lawyer and former Fulbright Scholar, explained that the most rewarding aspect of establishing the scholarship is spending time with students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to be visible to those students like me \u2014 especially minority students coming from rural North Carolina who may be thinking that their challenges in accessing a college education are unique,\u201d said Hicks, who has been a member since 2007 of the Chancellor\u2019s Global Leadership Council, which is charged with expanding and deepening the University\u2019s reach to people and institutions around the world. Hicks cherishes the University and continues to challenge Carolina to become an even more inclusive environment for students of color.<\/p>\n

During a dinner with his scholarship recipients in fall 2018, he identified with a lot of the sentiments they shared \u2014\u201cno one in my family has ever left the country\u201d and \u201cno one in my family has a passport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Coming from rural Forsyth County just outside of Winston-Salem, N.C., Hicks was the first in his family to graduate college. While at UNC, he benefited from mentors who encouraged his participation in campus life. He became involved with several student organizations: the NC Fellows Program, the Black Student Movement\u2019s Gospel Choir and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. A psychology major, he served as a research assistant for Donald H. Baucom, the Richard Lee Simpson Distinguished Professor of Psychology.<\/p>\n

While Hicks didn\u2019t study abroad until he got to Yale Law School, he does credit his time at Carolina with exposing him to the importance of a global mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were always global speakers and lectures on campus,\u201d he said. \u201cCarolina is a microcosm of the world, and it is important for students to seek out and access as many different backgrounds and cultures as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scholarship recipient Savannah Baker \u201920 of Kenansville, N.C., was motivated to do just that. Baker, who is majoring in political science and philosophy and minoring in social and economic justice, participated in Honors Carolina\u2019s semester-long study abroad program in London. It was the first time she had traveled internationally. \u201cI felt like a little fish in a big pond at times,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, by successfully navigating this experience I was able to learn valuable networking skills and meet a new community of people who still continue to support me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Savannah<\/a>
Scholarship recipient Savannah Baker participated in an Honors Carolina semester in London.<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baker added that she now feels more confident in stepping outside of her comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt an event last semester, I reached out to a speaker who I was interested in working with over the summer,\u201d she said. \u201cThat five-minute interaction turned into a three-month fellowship at the Carolina Justice Policy Center. I do not think I would have been confident enough to network in that way without my experience in London.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides fostering a global mindset, Hicks hopes that the Marleigh Desmond Hicks Study Abroad Scholarship Fund is \u201chelping to ignite a spark in students \u2014 a spark that helps get them on their way to pursuing experiences that may change the course of their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hicks\u2019 passion for international experiences is something that he is now passing on to his son, Marleigh, for whom the scholarship is named. Marleigh is in sixth grade and fluent in Mandarin and Spanish.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son is growing up much differently than I did,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cHe\u2019s had summers abroad in China and Ecuador, and I see how valuable it is for him. I want all students who come from backgrounds like mine to have exposure to opportunities like these.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Meredith Tunney<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI want to take away any number of fears that may prevent a student \u2014 who grew up like me \u2014 from studying abroad,\u201d explained Michael-Bryant Hicks 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