Mitchell scholar studies in Ireland

For almost a year, graduate student Lisa Yu from Indian Head Park, Ill., has been rubbing elbows with international leaders, traveling Europe's countryside and gaining a new perspective on the world around her thanks to her selection as one of twelve 2001 George Mitchell Scholarship winners from around the country.\n"It hasn't been about the academic experience as much as it's been about the personal, mind-broadening experience from meeting different parts of the world," Yu said.\nYu has been studying in Ireland and exploring Europe for the past nine months, traveling as far as Sweden, Italy and the Czech Republic.\n"That's really the highlight of my year, being able to do a lot of traveling," Yu said.\nThe scholarship gave Yu the opportunity to attend Queens University in Belfast, Ireland for an entire year, where she lived in Queens' University housing, which is typically much different than a normal dormitories in America.\n"You have your own room," Yu said. "There's a kitchen as well."\nIn only its third year, the Mitchell Scholarship committee picks 12 scholars each year from across the country to study in Ireland. The scholarship pays for tuition and room and board overseas for the entire year.\nAfter receiving the scholarship in 2001, Yu left her home in the states on Sept. 16 and flew to Ireland, flying directly over New York City, only five days after the World Trade Center attacks.\n"The pilot was noticeably nervous," Yu said. "It was five days later, and you could still see the cloud of dust. Everyone clapped when we landed safely."\nStudying in what she believes has been a less-structured system than America's, Yu will receive her masters degree in comparative ethnic conflict.\n"You aren't challenged as much as I would be back home," Yu said. "The teachers -- they lecture, and the students just kind of listen."\nAlong with a new perspective on education, Yu has been meeting with political activists, national celebrities and world leaders.\nRecently, Yu attended the International Academy of Achievement, a gathering of close to 200 of the brightest American scholars. The scholars were joined by former President Bill Clinton, U2's Bono, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and current interim president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.\n"It was to give students the opportunity to listen to people of expertise," Yu said.\nGraduate student Emily Mark, a 2002 Mitchell Scholarship winner from Los Angeles, Calif., will be following in the footsteps of Yu this fall, when she leaves for Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.\nMark, who has worked at the African-American Arts Institute, along with interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will pursue a master of literature in the history of art in Dublin.\n"Eventually, I'd like to become a museum curator," Mark said.\nThe nationwide scholarship has already claimed two IU students in only three years it has been available.\n"I think it's a tribute to the university," said director of Mitchell scholarships, Dell Pendergrast. "Two years in a row we've had two Indiana University scholars."\nYu plans to attend law school when she arrives back in America. While at Queens, Yu has been a courtroom observer, learning how legal systems run in different countries.\n"Last semester, I was doing observing for human rights," Yu said, thinking of possibly attending law school at Notre Dame or New York University.\nAfter her experience overseas, Yu said she hopes Mark can find the time to travel the European countryside.\n"She should try to see as much of Ireland as possible because that's something that I haven't done yet, and I really regret it," Yu said. "I'm going to try to see Ireland this summer."\nBut Yu isn't ready to leave Europe just yet. After her tenure is complete in Belfast, she's planning on going to work in the Philippines for a year, and then attending law school in the fall of 2003.\n"I'm fortunate to be around people that are interested and open-minded," Yu said. "It has been great, and I can't think of a better word to describe it than that"