Freeman Award Recipients

To learn more about the Freeman Foundation Grant Initiatives, click here

Adrienne Bowles ‘12
Face to Face AIDS Project and Salvation Center Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Victor (Zhixiang) Chen ‘12
Aoi Advertising Promotion, Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Frances Lee ‘12
Severence International Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Tammi Choi ’11
Zhongyin Law Firm, Beijing, China (Partial Grant)

Hong Kong University Art Museum

Petya with Dr Yeung and the Deputy Consul General of France

"The internships I undertook at the University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery involved being a curator of two major exhibitions under the supervision of the Museum Director Dr Yeung as well as doing extensive research on Asian artists and art pieces. Over the two months I spent at the museum, I managed to curate both exhibitions quite independently. One of them was an exhibition that comprised Polish posters donated to the museum by the Polish Consulate in Hong Kong. The exhibition was located in two of the main galleries on the museum's first floor and was open to visitors for a month. The other one was an exhibition initiated and sponsored by the Japanese Consul General in Hong Kong and featured more than 50 photographs taken by the renowned contemporary Japanese artist Kijuro Yahagi. The exhibition called "Hidden Japan" has toured more than 30 countries around the globe and I had the responsibility and great honor to curate it in Hong Kong.

I also did research in traditional Chinese bronzes from different dynasties, I also had perpetual access to the museum's collections. I wrote a press release for a major local newspaper on the Japanese exhibition. My job involved reading and doing research about the work of the famous Vietnamese monk and artist nominated for the Nobel Prize Thich Nhat Hanh who is to visit the museum in November. My supervisor also gave me valuable instructions regarding how to perform various administrative tasks related to museum work such as preparing captions, doing installation work, designing schedules, brochures and other merchandizing materials etc. As a whole, this has definitely been an experience of a lifetime and I am extremely grateful that I was given such an astounding opportunity only after completing my freshman year. The internship also reaffirmed my postgraduate aspirations in the field of Art History and enhanced my motivation to apply for a PH.D degree."

For an article on Petya Andreeva's internship, please visit http://www.insidecolby.com/article.php?articleid=322

Little Bird Worker Hotline, Beijing

"This summer I spent two months in Beijing interning for an NGO called Little Bird Mutual-Aid Hotline for Migrant Workers. A migrant worker founded this NGO after he realized the struggles that migrant workers face in large cities across China. Since migrant workers are not allowed to register to work in other cities besides their hometowns, they do not have working contracts and their bosses can easily deduct or defer the migrant workers wages. The hotline receives daily calls from migrant workers seeking job opportunities, legal advice, and rights protection. Little Bird counsels the migrant workers on ways to reclaim their wages, or mediates the dispute between the migrant workers and their bosses. During my time there I answered a few hotline calls and interacted with the migrant workers seeking help; however, my primary job was producing English publicity materials that the NGO could use to seek funding from international donors and allow foreign audiences to understand the work of Little Bird. I only spoke Mandarin in the office, and over the course of two months I enhanced my Mandarin vocabulary. I was glad for having an opportunity to learn the hardships and lifestyles of a Chinese population I was previously unfamiliar with."

Korean Embassy in Beijing

"During the summer of 2010, I interned at the Embassy of South Korea in Beijing. Through the internship, I acquired a depth of knowledge about Sino-Korean relations, and polished my Chinese language skills. I worked at two departments. At the consular office, I assisted people with preparing documents for various procedures, from which I could learn about the purpose of the complicated immigration policies that actually underlined the complex economic and historical relationship between the two countries. At the PR department, I searched for articles in the Chinese media that contained false, prejudiced or sensitive contents about Korea, and translated them into Korean.

I also wrote the PI (President Identity), the monthly report on the activities of China's President, prepared for the President of South Korea. Knowing how the current issues and the condition of the Sino-Korean relations can influence the media and immigration policies was a very valuable lesson."

Hirosaki Minami High School, Aomori, Japan            

Abigail with one of her ikebana arrangements

"Each morning I would get to the bus stop around seven, take the bus to Hirosaki Minami High School, and come home around five-thirty in the evening. I assistant taught English and observed the differences between a Japanese classroom and an American one. I observed the differences between the mentalities of the teachers and the students in the high school as well. I participated in classes and clubs like Tea Ceremony, Calligraphy, and Flower Arranging. I watched my students play in their sports days, and cheering on teams like Softball and Volleyball and Soccer matches between homerooms. I couldn't have asked for a more eventful trip. I learned to navigate the bus systems, teach in a different country, and make friends and acquaintances I won't ever lose in my lifetime."

"This summer, working as an intern for the Face to Face Aids Project in Cambodia, I learned what the role of an individual should be in global health. The majority of my time in Cambodia was spent teaching English in two different schools, one in Phnom Penh and the other in Battambang. The children that I taught at both of the schools were extremely respectful and grateful. They were all so happy to be in school and overall appeared to have a different attitude towards school than the one I experienced growing up in the United States.

The schools were run by the Salvation Centre Cambodia, a nonprofit organization that aims to develop a committed staff team to work through networks of monks, nuns, and other local and national stakeholders and groups to develop capacity, reduce vulnerability and provide a range of support for people living with HIV and their families, so that they are able to claim their rights and improve their lives. My internship also consisted of me traveling to the homes of HIV positive families to conduct interviews so as to gain a better understanding of these peoples histories and what it means to be HIV positive in  Cambodia, a country devastated by the Khmer Rouge only thirty years ago and living with the highest AIDS rate in Asia.

While in Battambang, I created a project called Akun Cambodia. The school in Battambang has a vocational room where they teach women suffering with HIV/AIDS to sew as a way to provide a means for the women to generate income. I designed purses and bags and had the women in the sewing room make them. I selected the fabric from the local market. The purses are now for sale online and will be available at Apollo Salon and Spa in Waterville. All profits from these purses will go toward the Salvation Center Cambodia.

My internship in Cambodia was a life-changing experience and I am so thankful for receiving the Freeman Grant."

Emiliano Hergenreder '11

Emiliano with his co-workers from Dr. Chang's lab

"This summer I conducted an internship at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine. I worked as an assistant in Dr. Raymond Chang's laboratory, which focuses on research for Alzheimer's disease. My work mainly involved studying disruptions of intracellular calcium induced by amyloid beta. I also studied the possible protective qualities of Lycium barbarum (wolfberry) against these effects. The wolfberry has been traditionally used in China as a preemptive treatment against aging. Recent studies suggest that polysaccharides from this fruit might confer protection against neurotoxicity. In order to conduct my experiments I learned and employed different techniques, including calcium imaging, maintenance of cell lines, extraction of primary cells from rat embryos, and some general lab procedures. A PhD student named Clara Hung directly supervised my work, but I also collaborated with other members of Dr. Chang's team. During this time I also attended an international conference on Alzheimer's disease hosted by the University of Hong Kong. Besides the work experience I gained, I also had the opportunity to spend three months in Hong Kong, a fascinating international city."

 

China Outdoor Retailers Association, Beijing

"I received the Freeman Foundation grant to work for the China Outdoor Retailers Association (CORA) from June to August. CORA focuses on selling high-end American brand outdoors gear to Chinese retailers.

I participated in several trade shows that showcased CORA's products, but the focus of my internship was to create and conduct three separate surveys. First, I conducted a survey of the Chinese consumer base to determine their impressions of CORA's products. Second, I surveyed the retailers to whom we were selling our products. Finally, I conducted an in-house survey of CORA employees to determine where the day-to-day operations could be more efficient. All of these surveys were written in English and then translated and conducted in Chinese."

Yunnan Normal University, Kunming

"With the money I received from the Freeman Grant, I was given the opportunity to work closely with Professor Yang Dong Hui, from the Yunnan Normal University, doing fieldwork research. I went through a couple days of intense enumeration training and learned how to enumerate as efficiently as possible while remaining friendly and not pushy. While collecting data, I lived with the village head and saw what life is like for farmers, and also saw first-hand the immense amount of labor that goes into maintaining crops and farmland. After enumeration, I used computer programs to evaluate the data and learned how to analyze and differentiate relevant and accurate data points from those that were not.

Aside from the working, the level of cultural enrichment I underwent was beyond rewarding. I spoke and shared stories about the world outside of China and became friends with the locals. My interactions with them allowed me to recognize the slight cultural differences between Taiwan and China and helped me understand more about each respective set of values and beliefs."

Jeff Breece '10
China Education Institute (Beijing and Yunnan)

Jesica Chang '11
Research internship with Dae Jae Park, Department of Korean History, Korea University (Seoul)

Ethel Chou '10
Taipei Representative Office, Singapore

Francis Gassert '11
Research internship with Dr. Shen Suping, China (Yunnan)

Duy Lyford '10
Aid for Kids, Vietnam (Ben Tre and Mekong Delta region)

Alex Pan '11
Jane Goodall Institute, China (Beijing), Events coordinator

Kristen Psaty '10
MinD Center, Vietnam (Hanoi), Educational coordinator, instructor

Zack Rich '10
Research with Dr. Zhang Shuguang, China (Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Guangzhou), emergent diseases, especially respiratory ailments

Ani Simeonova '11
Aoi Advertising Promotion, Japan (Tokyo), TV commercial production