Two students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania have been selected for national, competitive study abroad scholarships.
Shanya Coshey
Shanya Coshey, an Asian studies and anthropology double major from Manor, has been selected for a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship, and Dilan Dybus, an Asian studies major from Cresson, has been selected for a Freeman Asia Award. The scholarships will fund the students’ year-long study at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Japan. Kansai Gaidai has an exchange agreement with IUP.
Coshey is IUP’s twenty-second Gilman scholarship recipient and Dybus is IUP’s eleventh Freeman-ASIA scholarship recipient.
The Gilman Scholarship is awarded by the United States Department of State and instituted by the Institute of International Education. It enables undergraduate students who receive Federal Pell Grant funding at two- or four-year colleges to study or intern abroad in a variety of disciplines at a university of their choosing. Recipients are selected from a pool of candidates from colleges and universities across the country based on their academic performance and a competitive application.
The Freeman Awards for Study in Asia provides scholarships for American undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need to study abroad in east or southeast Asia. Freeman-ASIA is sponsored by the Freeman Foundation, a private foundation with an objective of strengthening the bonds of friendship between the United States and countries of East Asia.
Dilan Dybus
Coshey, a member of the IUP Cook Honors College, is the child of Heather Coshey and Nathan Coshey and is a 2022 graduate of Hempfield Area Senior High School. Coshey was president of the Asian Studies Club during the 2023–24 academic year and is a member and former treasurer of the IUP Fencing Club.
“I’m deathly curious and love to learn, two things that have driven me to learn about cultures across the globe,” Coshey said. “When I became an Asian studies major, I knew I wanted to take my education outside of the classroom; I aspired to learn about other cultures by immersing myself in them. I’m grateful for the Gilman scholarship because it allows me to realize my ambitions and take my studies of Japan to Japan itself. I’m also quite grateful to my academic advisors for their limitless support of my study-abroad journey."
Dybus, son of Cheri Eger and the late Theodore Dybus, is a 2022 graduate of Penn Cambria High School. He is vice president of the Chinese Language and Culture Club and the Asian Studies Club and is a member of the Japanese Student Association and Association of Korean-Cultural Interests group. Both students did community service at Karmê Chöling, a Buddhist meditation retreat center in Vermont, through the Alternative Spring Break program.
“The Freeman-ASIA scholarship is game-changing in allowing me to have a fulfilling study abroad experience in Japan,” Dybus said. “The scholarship will relieve many financial burdens, so that that I may pursue my interests more vigorously. I hope to develop my language skills and cultural understanding while studying at Kansai Gaidai. Becoming a recipient of this scholarship is only possible due to the Office of International Education notifying me of this opportunity, and the continued support of my professors and academic advisors,” he said.