RELEASED: June 12, 2003

DANVILLE, KY—Aaron Smith, a freshman from Louisville, has been chosen from among 384 national applicants for a Freeman-ASIA award.

The grant, sponsored by the Freeman Foundation and the Institute of International Education, is awarded to students to help cover the costs of study abroad in Asia for the fall semester of 2003. Smith was awarded the maximum grant of $5,000 and will study in Yamaguchi, Japan.

Smith will spend four months living with a host family and attending classes at Yamaguchi Prefectural University.

"I'm very grateful to Milton Reigelman for showing me this opportunity," Smith said.

Reigelman, professor of English and Centre's director of international programs, said that Smith is a "superb student," and deserving of this award.

While enthusiastic about all the classes he'll be taking during his time in Japan, Smith was excited to learn there is a basketball program.

"I'm hoping that, as an American, I'll be a little bit bigger. I might have an advantage for a change," Smith said with a laugh.

The Governor's Scholars Program, which Centre will host June 15-July 27, also has had a major influence on Smith's life.

While in high school, Smith participated in GSP, where he met two Centre students working for the program. Their enthusiasm for Centre helped Smith with his college search. And he will work for GSP this summer.

Centre has one of the nation's leading foreign-study programs. Seventy percent of Centre students study abroad during their four years at the college, the sixth-highest percentage in the country.

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