Student Profile
Meet Kasey
"I have always wanted the opportunity to go to Asia, and being there for four months was the answer to a wish I didn't even know I had. Now I have climbed the Great Wall before my 22nd birthday!"
— Kasey Phillips '08
Kasey will go a long way to learn.
This past semester, Kasey studied at China's Hong Kong Polytechnic University, taking courses in math and physics, along with classes in Cantonese and Chinese culture and history. But traveling through Southeast Asia wasn't Kasey's first big trip. As a freshman, she worked in an optics lab in Kassal, Germany.
"The program was created to give students a chance to research abroad while promoting English in the lab as a second language," she says. "As a native English speaker, I helped with scientific pronunciation and read drafts of papers to be published."
In China, Kasey also found way to put her English to good use. She founded an English conversation group at the Hong Kong Community College and served as a "cultural correspondent" for a Raleigh-area fourth grade class. Using a Web cam, she shared her travels with students who had spent the year studying China.
"It was a great way to show others how important traveling and experiencing other cultures is," she says.
For Kasey, the Park Scholarships program has helped her adjust as she travels. "It's given me a home away from home," she says. "The office has always been helpful, but while abroad, they have given me a connection back to campus that has made the transition away easier."
She is also grateful for the Park Alumni Society study abroad stipend: "It helped me with the cost of airfare to China, which tends to be more expensive than travel to Western destinations. I have always wanted the opportunity to go to Asia, and being there for four months is the answer to a wish I didn't even know I had. Now I have climbed the Great Wall before my 22nd birthday!"
After graduation, Kasey plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, before turning her attention to science and public policy in Washington, D.C., either by working for the Department of Energy or through one of the national laboratories. She credits the Park Learning Lab in D.C. with helping her clarify her interest in government work.
"It took me a while to figure out how my science background would fit it with lobbying and politics, but I have found that there is a lack of scientists in Washington, and I want to help change that."