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Three University of Virginia students, three countries and three transformative experiences – all thanks to newly available scholarship funding to support international applied learning experiences.

Last summer, Anh Vu worked at a nonprofit in Cape Town, South Africa; Heba Ahmed biked through Copenhagen, Denmark; and Dariana Martinez-Bautista explored London.

None of the students thought studying abroad was financially possible until they discovered the . Enabled by a $2 million expendable gift from a UVA alumnus, the scholarships provide up to $5,000 to UVA undergraduates eligible for need-based financial aid. The program enables students to participate in international credit-earning education opportunities, blending academic coursework with hands-on experiences.

Here are their stories.

Anh Vu

The second-year commerce student, who moved from Vietnam to the Philadelphia area when she was 8, is a first-generation college student from a low-income background. Her family didn’t travel much growing up.

“I knew that if I wanted to go abroad, I was going to have to find some sort of external funding or scholarship,” Vu said.

Vu wanted a hands-on experience. Through �鶹�ƽ�� Global Internship Program, she spent eight weeks in Cape Town working at Inyathelo, the South African Institute of Advancement, which provides resources to nonprofits across the country.

The program organized weekend excursions to sites like the Cape of Good Hope and Boulders Beach, where Vu saw African penguins. But she said her most memorable moment came near the end of the trip during a beach sunset with her new friends.

“I met all these people in this beautiful area,” she said. She remembers thinking, “I can’t believe that we’re all here and getting to see this amazing sunset.”

The Walker Scholarship covered all her program fees plus her flights. Now working as a UVA Admissions tour guide, Vu tells prospective students that studying abroad is more accessible than they might think.

Heba Ahmed

The fourth-year computer science student didn’t know how to ride a bike when she arrived in Denmark last summer, but by the time she left, she’d purchased one to bring back to Charlottesville.

Ahmed, who transferred to UVA from Northern Virginia Community College in 2024, initially applied to study in Greece. When she was waitlisted, her program adviser suggested Denmark’s sustainability course instead.

“Even though you might think that computer science and sustainability don’t really have a lot in common, there was a lot that I took away from that program,” she said.

There was a slight challenge. A lot of the coursework involved biking to sustainability sites around Copenhagen, and Ahmed had never ridden a bike without training wheels.

“My friends in the program were really supportive,” she said. “We would bicycle late at night when there was no traffic around the block so I could practice.” 

The Walker Scholarship made the international trip financially possible for Ahmed, whose family has road-tripped to nearly all 50 states.

By the end of the program, Ahmed not only mastered biking, but also purchased a bicycle to bring back to Charlottesville, which she now rides around Grounds.

Dariana Martinez-Bautista

Martinez-Bautista never planned to study abroad. The second-year public policy student from Winchester thought it would mean an unacceptably extended time away from family and friends.

“I was always under this impression that if I studied abroad, I would be missing a full semester at UVA,” Martinez-Bautista said. “So, I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to study abroad.’”

But when friends told her about short-term programs, and she discovered the Walker Scholarship and a two-week London program, she reconsidered.

As a first-generation student whose parents are from Mexico, Martinez-Bautista had never traveled internationally. Flight tickets and expenses “just didn’t seem like a possibility for my family,” she said.

The Walker Scholarship helped change that. Last summer, she studied democracy and British culture for a summer term course in London, attending lectures and visiting museums, including the British Museum and a portrait museum.

The program took students to the University of Oxford for a weekend of exploration, and Martinez-Bautista tried foods she still thinks about to this day – including fish and chips and chocolate-covered strawberries from a local market.

“I wouldn’t have studied abroad if it weren’t for that scholarship,” she said. “I’m super grateful that they have provided me with so many opportunities.”