Prenursing student awarded Boren Scholarship to address communication barriers in global healthcare

BOZEMAN - At the Combat Medical Care Conference in Blaubeuren, Germany, last July, Montana State University student Patton Peterson was captivated. A prenursing student from Mitchell, South Dakota, Peterson had previously worked as an EMT and combat medic for the Montana Army National Guard. He traveled to the conference based on his own interest in learning from respected military individuals about what skill sets matter.

"One of the main points they talked about was the war in Ukraine and refugees going over into Poland, and that communication barrier between them and needing to have translators," said Peterson, who is 20 years old. "Hearing stories about the few healthcare personnel who did have that language ability - and how they were able to help in triage situations and these unfortunate humanitarian disasters - made me want to put in the time and effort to be able to do that myself.

"It takes away the need for a translator," Peterson said of the value of learning languages as a healthcare provider. "It just makes you a better asset."

It was this realization that led Peterson, who ultimately wants to become an Army Nurse Corps officer, to start teaching himself the Russian language this past academic year.

And in April, Peterson won a competitive national Boren Scholarship that will fund his continued study of Russian in Latvia this summer. He received $8,000 from the Boren STEM summer initiative program, which is shorter than the traditional semester of study. The award also includes a convocation in Washington, D.C., and academic resources for further support.

The Boren Scholarship provides American undergraduate students funding to study less commonly taught languages in world regions that are critical to U.S. national security. The award requires recipients to work at least one year for the federal government upon graduation and is funded by the Department of Defense.

At MSU, 15 students have been awarded a Boren, the most recent in 2024.

In October 2025 - then unaware of the Boren Scholarship's existence - Peterson began his self-study of Russian. While also balancing his prerequisite classes for nursing school and working shifts in Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center 's emergency department, he ordered language textbooks and first learned the alphabet and basic grammar concepts. He also hired a native Russian tutor living in Maryland for one-on-one instruction and conversation online.

But Peterson knew the best way to learn the language was to fully immerse himself in a Russian-speaking country. He began researching opportunities to do so and landed on the Boren Scholarship program.

For his application, Peterson was required to select and justify a place to study his chosen language. He landed on Daugavpils, Latvia, due to its high concentration of Russian speakers, multiple levels of university language programs and the sense of security afforded by Latvia's NATO membership. Daugavpils has the highest concentration of fluent Russian speakers of any city in NATO and the EU.

Peterson departs in mid-June and will live in Daugavpils with a Russian-speaking host family for eight weeks. His first two weeks at the University of Daugavpils will involve one-on-one classes with a tutor, followed by a six-week group program of intensive language study. He expects to spend more than 45 hours a week on his studies.

Peterson said that during the school year, studying Russian was simply his hobby and something he did in his free time between classes and his many commitments. But now, he's excited to finally be able to fully dedicate himself to Russian and dig deep into learning the language.

"The personal and career level I'm hoping to gain (in Russian) is to have that interoperability between the language and healthcare and being able to, if the possibility arises, bridge a communication barrier in an emergency situation." Peterson said.

Indeed, Peterson has always been drawn to caregiving. Growing up in South Dakota, he volunteered as an activity organizer at his local senior center and became a certified nursing assistant at age 15.

"I feel like the healthcare industry attracts a certain type of person - you want to care for people, you want to do your part to give back to society," he said.

In addition to the career practicality of learning Russian, Peterson also has personal motivations. His family immigrated to the U.S. from Russia a few generations back, and while he did not grow up speaking Russian at home, he hopes to be able to exchange vocabulary and phrases with his grandparents.

"There's a personal aspect and almost a sense of pride in learning it and reconnecting with that culture," Peterson said.

He also plans to learn as much as he can about Russian culture from the historically rich Baltics region, which has been shaped by both world wars, conquerors such as Napolean and the influence of the Soviet Union. He plans to visit several military and Holocaust museums to gain historical insight that complements his language acquisition.

Upon his return, Peterson will take the Army's language proficiency test to certify his Russian abilities. Then he wants to begin studying yet another language, though he's not sure yet which one. He took Spanish classes in high school, but so far, is only a fluent speaker in English.

He also plans to return to active duty in the Army and will be stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington as a medic, while still chipping away at online prerequisite classes required for admission to nursing school. So far, he has completed one year of prerequisite courses at MSU, which he chose to attend based on a desire to leave his home state and experience living in a new place. He eventually hopes to earn admission to the Army Enlisted Commissioning Program to complete his bachelor of science in nursing.

"I am purpose-driven and kind of impatient when it comes to wanting to have a more hands-on, direct impact," Peterson said. "So, I decided to transition to active duty and get more operative experience as a medic and more of an understanding of military healthcare."

Leaders at MSU expressed confidence that Peterson will succeed in his ambitions.

"One of the strengths of Patton's application is that he has already clearly demonstrated a commitment to public service with his past work as a combat medic with the U.S. Army National Guard," said Stacey Neve, MSU's Boren adviser, who worked with Peterson on his application.

"Overall, Patton put together such a strong application that I would have been surprised if he didn't get the scholarship," Neve said.

Capt. Erin Hesse, assistant professor of military science at MSU, mentored Peterson in the Army ROTC program and taught his military science classes last year. He stands out as a leader and positive example to his peers, she said, adding that he is very sociable and will thrive in an environment where he gets to meet new people from different backgrounds.

"I believe that Patton's drive to better himself and expose himself to different experiences are his best qualities that set him up to be a Boren Scholar," Hesse said. "He is always thinking about what is next for him. He gets uncomfortable with the status quo and always wants to ensure he can do everything he can to better himself. He is very driven and does not let anything or anyone stop him from accomplishing his goals."