Marc Colatrino, a senior Asian Studies major from Leechburg, is one of only eighty-five students in the nation and one of only three in Pennsylvania selected for a Bridging Scholarship for study abroad in Japan.
Colatrino is the first IUP student to win one of these competitive awards. The scholarships are offered by the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation, an independent federal agency promoting mutual understanding between the United States and Japan.
Colatrino will do his yearlong study at Nagoya Gakuin University in Nagoya, Japan, a partner university with IUP. He will leave for Japan on September 10.
“My goal is to become an interpreter or translator for government or for a private corporation, but I am also looking at teaching opportunities, including teaching opportunities in China to allow me to learn Chinese,” he said.
A nontraditional-age student, Colatrino grew up in Illinois. He is the son of Philip and Jody Colatrino, of Edmund, Okla., and is a graduate of Antioch Community High School in Illinois. He is a dean's list student at IUP.