UW Tacoma student earns $20,000 travel fellowship

On June 15, UW Tacoma student Arabie Jaloway will depart for the adventure of a lifetime.

Eight months. Eight countries. No professors, no coursework and no college credit—just intense immersion in the languages, cultures and environments of the world.

Jaloway, of Puyallup, is one of six University of Washington undergraduate students to earn a 2007 Bonderman Travel Fellowship. Created through a gift from 1963 UW graduate David Bonderman, the fellowship provides $20,000 for travel, with a few strings attached. Students must travel alone for at least eight months, cannot return to the United States at any time during their trip and cannot do anything academic while abroad or earn college credit for their travel.

"I'm really looking forward to a sense of discovery on this trip," Jaloway says. "I know I'm not just discovering the world — I'll be discovering myself."

The Bonderman Fellowship was created to foster independence, introduce students to new cultures and promote open-mindedness and understanding of the global community through transformative travel experiences. Jaloway was chosen as part of a rigorous application process in which applicants are considered based on integrity, capacity for vision and leadership and potential for humane and effective participation in the global community. Finalists were required to submit detailed travel proposals and submit to an extensive interview.

Jaloway, a junior in UW Tacoma's Environmental Science and Global Honors programs, will visit endangered national parks and ecosystems in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Java, India, China, Australia and New Zealand. She plans to backpack and stay in hostels and looks forward to learning about a wide variety of traditions.

"It's kind of terrifying to go into a place where you don't speak the language, don't know the culture and don't know how to eat the food," she says. "I don't think you can experience something like that without becoming a better person."

Claudia Gorbman, director of the Global Honors Program, says Jaloway is a remarkable student who is deeply committed to changing the world for the better.

"She is truly a force to be reckoned with," she said. "We are excited to see her earn this wonderful opportunity to do nothing but follow her dreams and learn intensively about the world for the better part of a year."

Jaloway is pushing back her anticipated graduation date by at least three months to accommodate the trip. Her three children, ages 4 to 9, will be cared for by their father while she travels. She hopes a new, global perspective on life will open doors to a career in environmental policy and ethics.

"It's going to be rough, especially leaving my kids," she said. "But I don't know that I've ever done anything worth doing that wasn't rough."

Jaloway graduated from Pierce College Fort Steilacoom last June and earned one of UW Tacoma's prestigious Next Step scholarships, given to top transfer students from each of the university's seven partner community colleges. She is a student in UW Tacoma's Global Honors Program, which offers highly motivated UW Tacoma students a way to broaden their education by applying global perspectives and international experiences to their coursework.

Of more than a hundred applicants, three of the 20 finalists for the Bonderman Fellowship were UW Tacoma Global Honors students, according to Gorbman. The other two finalists from UW Tacoma were junior Jeff Eck of Allyn, also a 2006 Next Step Scholar, and senior Whitney Rhodes of Tacoma, both students in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program. This is the first year UW Tacoma students applied for the fellowship.

"This is an indication of how bright and competitive our Global Honors students are," she said. "My hat is off to all three of the finalists, who all performed wonderfully in a field of absolutely brilliant and deserving candidates."