Record Number of SU TRIO Students, Alumni Study Abroad
By SU Public Relations
SALISBURY, MD---A record number of students and alumni from ذكذكتسئµ University’s TRIO Student Support Services Program are studying abroad this semester, thanks to nationally competitive and local merit-based scholarships and fellowships.
They include seniors Kay Funderburg of Crisfield, MD; Mark Niederhofer of Melfa, VA; and Joshua Turner of Columbia, MD; as well as 2025 graduates Stephora Alberi of ذكذكتسئµ, and Andersen Herman of Fruitland, MD.
Supporting their journeys is Madjesca Limage, an international business and accounting major currently completing an internationally focused internship through the program. As their TRIO ambassador, she has been connecting with them weekly to support their academic, professional, and personal transitions abroad.
“Far from being confined by the limitations of the mind or life TRIO students continually reach for the stars,” said Limage. “By continuing their learning across borders, these current students and recent graduates are gaining invaluable academic, professional, and personal experiences that will expand their worldview and help shape their futures for the better.”
SU’s TRIO Student Support Services Program provides first-generation students, students with financial need, and students with disabilities with resources to help them achieve their academic potential and personal goals. Dr. Margaret Sebastian, director of the program, particularly credits the number of participants currently studying abroad to the program’s Future Talk Success Initiative.
“In our individual meetings, group workshops, and graduate school overnight trips, we focus on assisting students with graduate school planning and admissions, study abroad opportunities, summer internships, and national fellowships,” she said.
Funderburg, an outdoor education major, is studying at Linkoping University in Sweden through December on a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship through the U.S. Department of State. There, they are taking international classes in outdoor education, outdoor school (a class focusing on biology and nature), drama communication, and young adult fiction. They also have enjoyed nature walks and hikes — both for class and recreationally — and visited other parts of the country, including its capital city, Stockholm.
Niederhofer, an integrated science major, is spending the semester as an exchange student in Stirling, Scotland. SU has a longstanding partnership with the University of Stirling, where he is taking biology courses focused on environmental restoration, ecology, and evolution and genetics. While there, he has enjoyed immersing himself in the local culture (though he admits he still sometimes has difficulty understanding the Scottish accent) and traveling throughout the country, including its capital city, Edinburgh. He is supported by SU’s Sea Gull Nation Scholarship.
Turner also is spending his semester abroad as an exchange student, at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea. As a finance major, his classes include a mix of business-based courses such as foreign exchange policy, principles of marketing, and trading derivatives, as well as those focused more on the local culture, including beginner Korean and Buddhist meditation. During his experience, he has enjoyed staying active, including hiking, attending sporting events, trying new foods, and meeting new people from around the globe. He is supported by TRIO supplemental grant aid.
Alberi, who earned her B.S. in computer sciences from SU in May, is working at the Observatory Space Technology Department at the University of Tartu in Estonia while studying Russian on a David L. Boren Scholarship through the National Security Education Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Participating in the University of Tartu’s Computer Vision in Space course last summer as the 2025 beGirl world All-Country Scholar, she now conducts research on feature detectors that can be deployed on Kuupkulgur, Estonia’s first lunar rover. Her appointment continues through June.
Herman, who received his B.S. in chemistry from SU last spring, is conducting research on antibacterial photodynamic therapy at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Biosciences at the Technology and Innovation Park of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Slovakia. He is working with Slovak researchers on the use of metal-organic frameworks to combat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and cancer as a U.S. Fulbright Student.
He also is collaborating with the U.S. Embassy’s outreach programs, including EducationUSA and American Spaces Slovakia, to support Slovak students interested in studying in the U.S. His appointment continues through May.
Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.