Danielle Rossi doesn't find Chinese as difficult as she thought she would, partly because she loves China.
Rossi, an international economics major at Santa Fe College, is the first Santa Fe student to receive the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which was designed for students wanting to study abroad in a non-European country and learn a non-traditional language.
She will use the $5, 000 she was awarded to study Chinese at Jilin University in Changchun in northeastern China from Sept. 1 through April 15.
"I've always dreamed of studying internationally," Rossi said. "(The Gilman scholarship) really gives community college students a chance to compete. They're great for that."
Rossi, who plans to go into international law or the U.S. Foreign Service, said after taking economics classes and realizing China's importance in world affairs, learning Chinese seemed like good preparation for the future.
"We are such strong partners," she said. "Economically, we are linked at the hip."
Rossi said although she is excited, she's worried about communicating and adjusting to life in China.
"It will really be the Chinese culture," she said. "It's not Americanized."
