PHOTO PROVIDED Addison Harbach, pictured, has been selected to receive the prestigious Spanish Eagles Abroad Scholarship.

MILL HALL — Addison Harbach, a senior at Central Mountain High School and a student in Jessica Whipple’s Spanish 4/5 class, has been selected by the faculty of Juniata College’s Department of World Languages and Cultures to receive the prestigious Spanish Eagles Abroad Scholarship, an award that recognizes academic excellence and a strong commitment to global engagement.

To be nominated for this scholarship, the enrollment staff at Juniata College looked at Addison’s past language study at Central Mountain, as well as her interest in study abroad for her program.

As part of the award, she will have the chance to participate in a four-week Spanish immersion program at the Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA) de Oriente in Orizaba, Mexico during the summer after her first and second years at Juniata. The scholarship covers program tuition, room and board, and the flight.

In addition, the scholarship provides financial support for study abroad: $5,000 for a full academic year or $2,500 for a semester in a Juniata-sponsored program in a Spanish-speaking country.

Recipients are also given priority access to Juniata’s international and intercultural programming, including residency in the Global Village.

Following their time abroad, students further extend their impact by completing at least one credit of Language in Motion, supporting language learning in regional schools.

Recipients benefit from a sequence of immersive and academically rigorous opportunities designed to develop advanced Spanish language proficiency and cross-cultural competence.

Addison, who has grown up on her family’s 2,000 acre dairy farm, Schrack’s Farms, in Loganton, is looking forward to this opportunity to experience something new and exciting while putting her second language skills to use.

“Learning a second language is important to me because some of the people I look up to the most are fluent in both Spanish and English, and I know that it is an important life skill that will open many doors for me throughout my life, and will allow me to have countless new experiences,” she explained. “Some of the things I am looking forward to the most in my study abroad experience are immersing myself in and learning about the cultures of other people, and experiencing their land and how different their flora and fauna are from ours. Going into college as a wildlife conservation major, the environment and nature of new locations are the things I look forward to the most when I visit somewhere new. I have always had a love for the Spanish-speaking world, and I hope that the opportunity to study abroad allows me to widen my credentials as well as make new, cherished memories with new, amazing people.”