Utica’s Scoma earns $5,000 scholarship to study abroad in Spain

Illinois Valley Community College freshman Danica Scoma has been awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which pays undergraduates up to $5,000 to cover costs of studying abroad.

This summer, the Utica resident will spend a month in Seville, Spain, through IVCC’s International Study Program and the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs. She’ll study the language and culture in the classroom and through touring the country and living with a host family.

Scoma is in a select group. Fewer than 200 of the nearly 3,000 Gilman scholarship recipients this year are from two-year schools, and the applicant pool spanned nationally ranked universities and state and community colleges. Scholarships are based on financial need and applicants must be Pell Grant recipients to be considered.

Scoma was always determined to study abroad.

“I always had a passion for learning other languages and connecting with people despite language differences,” she said.

She has been studying Spanish and also wants to become fluent in other languages.

She was smitten with the idea of international travel after hearing her soccer coach – a native of Croatia – recount his world travels, and a community service project that took her to Costa Rica a couple of years ago further sealed her passion for travel. While other teens were saving for a car, her earnings went toward financing the trip.

She says her love of soccer will be a common ground with people she meets in Spain, where it is a national sport.

She wrote in her application essay that international study will make her a “global innovator rather than a spectator,” and that being bilingual will be useful in her prospective career as an art therapist or social worker providing support to underserved populations.

“I want to give back and help people, and how can I do that if I cannot communicate with them?” she asked in her essay.

Six IVCC students have earned the Gilman Scholarship since 2020, said Amanda Cook Fesperman, who manages IVCC’s Study Abroad program.

“The scholarship has made studying abroad possible for students who otherwise could not afford to do it,” Cook Fesperman said. “I am thrilled that so many of our worthy students have been honored with this award.”

Cook Fesperman is glad her efforts to popularize the program have been successful. She promotes the program on campus and works with students to get financing.

Studying abroad appeals to students who want to improve their foreign language skills. Others “just want to have a global experience,” Cook Fesperman added.

“Studying abroad opens the world to our students, but it also improves their ability to transfer to competitive universities,” she said. “This is a special experience that college recruiters and employers look for.”

IVCC students most recently have traveled to Spain, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, France and Ireland.

Gilman applicants are chosen, in part, on the strength of essays in which they demonstrate why they want to travel abroad and how it will benefit them and their communities. The next deadline for Gilman applicants is March 6, for those wishing to study abroad between May 2025 and April 2026.

To discuss the travel abroad program, contact Cook Fesperman at amanda_cookfesperman@ivcc.edu. She can also address possible financing options.