UIC students earn 2026 Gilman Scholarships to study abroad

Ava Angele caught the travel bug early in her life.

When she was choosing where to go to college, she considered only two schools: UIC and a university in Ireland.

After selecting UIC for its anthropology program, she set her sights on any opportunity to travel around the world. She leaves later this month for a study abroad program in Germany.

"I am the traveler in my family," Angele said. "I have such a travel bug. I just finished my four semesters of German at UIC, and what better opportunity than now to use it and actually immerse myself in the German culture?"

Angele is one of two UIC students whose study abroad semester is being funded by U.S. Department of State's Gilman Scholarship. Aniya Payton, a fourth-year student in the urban studies program, is the other.

The scholarship pays up to $5,000 in tuition and fees to students.

Payton, who has traveled to Mexico and Italy, will miss her UIC graduation this spring in Chicago. Even so, she jumped at the chance to finish her college career abroad.

"I've always been someone who likes to travel rather than vacation, just to really get to know people," Payton said. "I think it's important to get to know other cultures to then see how each one compares to other places I've been, or even back home."

With her classes scheduled to begin in Argentina in late February, Payton took off for Buenos Aires last week and will be there through her UIC graduation, returning in early June.

"Getting to travel and see the world makes you such an open-minded and well-rounded person," Payton said. "It makes you really value the different communities that we have here in Chicago, the different communities that we have in the U.S. And that diversity or anything you're not familiar with is never something to be afraid of."

Seeing the Americas through an urban lens

As part of the Gilman scholarship application, students were asked how they would incorporate what they learned abroad back home on their campuses and in their communities. Payton said she plans to advocate for more Black and underrepresented students to study abroad.

As for her area of study at UIC, Payton was drawn to the urban studies program while pursuing a degree in criminal justice.

"I felt like I was being more of a service to my community," she said. "I feel like you can learn more about people and history through urban studies, which are things I'm obsessed with."

With her required degree classes complete, she's using her final semester to immerse herself in other American cultures. She has studied Spanish since high school and hopes Spanish-immersion classes will help her become more fluent as she learns about Argentina and its culture.

"Argentina is also so naturally diverse, because it's a very long country, so it has different climates," she said. "I think I'll really be able to take in the infrastructure, the policies that they have and the way that it compares to a U.S. city like Chicago."

When she returns in June, she hopes to encourage more Black and underrepresented students to take advantage of study abroad opportunities while they're students.

"It's more accessible than people think," Payton said. "Getting to know the world is such a privilege, and if you're able to do it, you should encourage more people to do it when they can."

Exploring heritage and archeology

At UIC, Angele studied anthropology and archaeology. In Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, her study abroad location, she plans to study European Medieval history. While Payton's semester is in one of the largest cities in South America, Angele's is in a town of about 236,000 people.

"I knew I specifically didn't want a big city, like Berlin," Angele said. "I looked around to find a study abroad opportunity in a smaller location."

Angele is also planning to add a German major, using her experience abroad to improve her language skills.

This will be Angele's first trip to Germany, where her mother was born and where other family members still live. She hopes to spend her non-study time connecting with family she has never met.

"We lost contact with an aunt who still lives in Germany, and it would be great to meet her or her son," Angele said. "I also want to see the country my mom was born in."

Her enthusiasm for archeology has already taken her to Europe. Angele spent two summers in Hungary, excavating a Bronze Age site with UIC professor William Parkinson. She said the experience taught her about hands-on archeology and the rewards of making friends from other countries.

Her favorite product of travel, Angele said, is the self-reliance she's discovered.

"I had never felt so sure of myself," she said. "I learned a lot about myself through those trips and how independent I can be. I think my time in Germany will do the same thing, if not more so, because I'll be there longer and will also be taking classes in a language I'm not native in."

UIC students are global citizens

Payton and Angele are two of more than 300 UIC Gilman Scholarship recipients since 2012. The scholarship has been distributed by the U.S. Department of State each semester since 2001 to university students nationwide.

To receive the scholarship, students must be Pell Grant recipients. More than 50% of students at UIC have been awarded Pell Grants for their studies.

Angele is a strong advocate for encouraging any student planning or hoping to study abroad to apply for every scholarship available. She recommends close relationships with study abroad counselors, who can help students find the right fit for a program.

"There is money available, even if you don't think so," she said. "There are also programs that can be more affordable, or even summer programs can be more affordable. It's a unique, rare and amazing opportunity that other students shouldn't pass up."