RELEASED: May 29, 2003

DANVILLE, KY—Neil Parrish, a May graduate from Louisville, has received a $25,000 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to study for a year at a foreign university of his choice during 2004-05.

Rotary International offers a broad range of humanitarian, intercultural and educational programs and activities designed to improve the human condition and advance the organization's ultimate goal of world understanding and peace.

"Personal growth is the biggest gain of studying abroad, and Centre is very good at this," said Parrish, a double major in English and Spanish who studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, as a junior. "You learn so much about other cultures because you're there, but you also learn a lot about your own culture by having something to compare it to."

Parrish, a John C. Young Scholar and a member of Centre's swimming and diving team, competed with 11 other finalists for the fellowship.

The process consisted of an application and half-hour interview. Milton Reigelman, Centre's director of international programs and Cowan Professor of English, is on the selection committee and said Parrish's application was superb.

Rick Axtell, College chaplain and assistant professor of religion, and Randy Hays, vice president and dean of student life, wrote recommendation letters for Parrish, while Mary Daniels, assistant professor of Spanish, wrote his foreign-language assessment.

But it was Parrish's interview, Reigelman said, that set Parrish apart.

"He was simply the best at answering difficult, booby-trapped questions intelligently," said Reigelman.

Parrish was sponsored by the Danville Rotary Club.

Parrish will study in either New Zealand, Scotland, England or Spain. He'll know his destination by November. Prior to that, he plans to rock climb in Colorado this summer.

Past Centre students have studied in England, Egypt and Ireland as Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholars.

For more on Rotary International programs, visit http://www.rotary.org/programs/index.html.

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