Six named Boren awardees for 2026

Four Boren Scholarship recipients will spend next year at National Chengchi University in Taiwan to complete their Chinese Language Flagship capstone program and to help them achieve superior proficiency in Mandarin.

• Cadet Abraham Condrell is a senior from Wheaton, Illinois, pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Chinese for global professionals. His application was supported by Jou Li, Mary Enriquez, Dr. Tianyu Qin, and retired Lt. Col. Wes Pirkle.
• Zachary Furbush is a senior from Cumming, Georgia, pursuing a degree in international affairs with a concentration in East Asia and a minor in Flagship Chinese. He currently serves as president of the Dahlonega Honors Program. Furbush's application was supported by Qin and Dr. Cristian Harris.
• Cadet Vincent Furtado is a senior from Anaheim, California, pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Chinese for global professionals. Furtado's application was supported by Yandan Wang, Dr. Sungshin Kim and retired Lt. Col. Heath Williams.
• David Park is a senior from Harlem, Georgia, pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Chinese for global professionals and a minor in Spanish. His application was supported by Dr. Ran Chen and Qin.

Condrell has previously visited Taiwan as part of Project Global Officer and the cadet exchange to the National Defense University, a military academy.

"I was there for eight months at National Defense University. It was a tough experience, and I grew a lot from it. I'm looking forward to going back," Condrell said. "I'm more on top of my game. My fluency is stronger. I feel like it'll be a little bit of a victory lap."

Furbush said he's looking forward to the opportunity to experience Taiwan with friends and his increased proficiency, adding that the visit will support what comes next.

"The opportunity to go abroad is also moving forward with my professional skills. It's very intentional. I get to enjoy what I'm doing and develop myself and prepare myself for the future," Furbush said.

He was quick to add that he has been given a great deal of support.

"The Boren is an impressive individual accomplishment as much as it is a collective accomplishment," Furbush said. "It is by no means just my work, but the contributions of hours of professors' time. It's not just a testament to us as students and our ability to work hard, but to the incredible professors that we have."

Furtado said the Chinese language program and Corps of Cadets were the "two big things" of why he chose to attend UNG. Having taken Spanish in middle school and Chinese in high school - which he described as "fun" - he fell in love with foreign languages.

"I fell in love with learning language and about new cultures," he said. "When I think of the capstone program, I knew it was the perfect ending to that foreign language journey. Eight years of hard work in middle and high school, dedication and overcoming a lot of struggle hasn't been easy, but that's what makes it fun at the end of the day."

UNG had two more awardees:

• Cadet Jordan Barrocas is a senior from Atlanta pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies with a concentration in intelligence. He received a Boren Fellowship to study Swahili domestically this summer and in Tanzania in the fall. His application was supported by Col. Ed Bankston, Dr. Hamid Serri and Dr. Edward Mienie.
• Cadet Isabella Majksner is a junior from Hartwell, Georgia, pursuing a degree in computer science with minors in Korean and cybersecurity. She will spend the fall semester at the Korea Military Academy. Her application was supported by retired Sgt. Maj. Terry Baumann, Pirkle and Dr. Jiyoung Daniel.

Barrocas is currently a congressional intern at a district office in Georgia with aspirations of working in governance and policy after earning a graduate degree in international security from Georgia Tech.

"After getting my master's, then I will hopefully find someone who wants me to write policy for them, whether that's a think tank or a congressional aide. Working in national intelligence could be interesting as well," Barrocas said. "I would be happy to do that, especially with the language skills."

Majksner's love of Korea and its culture inspired her to apply for the Boren opportunity, and she recognizes the support from Daniel, her professor of Korean.

Additionally, two students were named Boren Scholarship alternates:

• Libby Lathem is a senior from Summerville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in criminal justice with Peace Officer Standards and Training Council certification. She applied to study Korean abroad in the spring at Sogang University. Her application was supported by Daniel, Sallie Parker and Dr. Butch Newkirk.
• Gavin Faulkner is a junior from Flowery Branch, Georgia, pursuing a degree in cybersecurity with a minor in Japanese. He applied to study abroad in the fall at Nanzan University. His application was supported by Daniel Armstrong, Kihoon Kim and Sarah Hubbel.

"I am so proud of the work our applicants put into their applications, and I am grateful for the culture of applying for Boren that we've been able to create. We have a network of partners across the university that encourage students, sometimes from their first semester, to consider applying. That makes a world of difference in our success," Dr. Victoria Hightower, associate director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office, said. "Boren is so meaningful because it aligns with so many parts of the UNG mission. It is a security scholarship dedicated to helping students build their knowledge and skills so that they will be able to contribute substantively to the U.S. government."

The Boren Scholarship and Fellowship provides up to $25,000 for students to intensively study language and culture abroad. In exchange, students agree to work for the U.S. federal government for at least a year and receive coaching and mentoring upon their return to facilitate this objective.

The Nationally Competitive Scholarships Office welcomes faculty and students to learn more about the scholarship by contacting [email protected].