Born in the West African nation of Togo, Gilman Scholar Ayele d’Almeida (United kingdom, Summer 2019) immigrated to the United States with her family when she was five, settling in Minneapolis. After participating in a language immersion program in France as a high school student, she yearned to have another study-abroad experience before she graduated from college.
That became possible when d’Almeida received the competitive Benjamin A Gilman International Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to support her study-abroad experience and a Robert L. Burrus Jr. Fellowship from the Jepson School to support her academic Jepson internship at Common Purpose.
D’Almeida spent most of her 10-week internship working with Common Purpose’s Student Experiences, helping coordinate the logistics of a program aimed at developing leadership in college students from around the world.
“Common Purpose puts into action a lot of what I’ve learned,” said the Gilman Scholar, who is majoring in leadership studies and political science.
Now in her senior year, d’Almeida is pondering life after graduation. “You can do a lot of different things with a leadership studies degree,” she said. “I want to find something that makes my heart sing!”
Read more about Ayele d’Almeida’s internship abroad here.
