Spring Olivares
As a daughter of a military service officer, Spring moved nearly a dozen times before landing at FGCU. Spring is part of the first cohort of 500 Gilman McCain Scholarship recipients from the United States (2019-2020). She majored in English and aspires to be an ESOL teacher and will use this opportunity to study in Japan for the summer.
Spring is an FGCU alumna, class of '21.
How did your mentor encourage and foster your research and academic trajectory?
Throughout my FGCU experience, my main mentor has been Dr. Totaro. She has guided me to the path that I am currently on. Dr. Totaro has given me the opportunities to expand research into a university book series, which has taught me how to find a perspective with finding the right audiences for papers written all around the world. I'm confident now to create a career that will give back to those around me in an educational and well-rounded way using my past experiences and new dreams as my guide.
What does the OCF mean to you?
The Office of Competitive Fellowships means freedom in believing in myself and any ideas that I never thought would be possible in the past. From my experiences with the scholarship process, I learned how to find value in all aspects of my career thus far. I know that no matter where I want to travel or what I want to experience, I will have a team supporting me every step of the way while in school and after graduation.
What is the Gilman McCain Scholarship Program?
The Gilman-McCain Scholarship is a congressionally funded initiative of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and named after the late senator John S. McCain from Arizona. The Gilman-McCain Scholarship provides awards of $5,000 for child dependents of active duty service members to study or intern abroad on credit-bearing programs.
