University of Nebraska–Lincoln students Dana Moze-Kadavy and Victoria Villota have earned the National Security Education Program’s Boren Scholarship to study critical languages abroad.

Moze-Kadavy, a senior global studies and political science major with a German minor, will study Hindi in Jaipur, India. Villota, a junior global studies and economics major with human rights and humanitarian affairs and mathematics minors, will study Portuguese in Maputo, Mozambique.

As Boren scholars, they are individuals who are highly motivated to learn critical languages and then work for the federal government. As part of the award, scholars agree to work in the federal government for at least a year.

In preparation for their fall semester of study abroad, both students will spend a summer studying their intended languages domestically. Moze-Kadavy will study Hindi at the South Asia Summer Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Villota will take Portuguese at the University of Florida.

Moze-Kadavy, a graduate of Norris High School in Firth, will visit India at the beginning of the summer on a Nebraska faculty-led program, India: Learning through Service, Culture, History and Language.

Upon graduation, she will apply for an internship with the U.S. Department of State. She would like to work in the Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights office, which combats domestic and international human trafficking. She then intends to work for the Department of State as a political officer in the Foreign Service.

On receiving the award, she said: “I read the acceptance email three times before I realized that I actually received the Boren Scholarship; I was afraid that I was misreading the email. I cannot wait to be a part of such a fantastic program and begin studying Hindi this summer. I am so grateful to all my incredible professors and the university for preparing me for this opportunity.”

Villota, a graduate of North Star High School in Lincoln, is fluent in Spanish and started learning Portuguese by studying abroad in Portugal in spring 2017. She is interested in a career as a financial economist for the Department of State, focusing on assessing foreign economic trade and financial trends that will assist the United States to improve its trade relations through business practices.