Essey Wondaferahu

2022 Gilman Scholarship Recipient

Hometown

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Major

Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

College

College of Engineering

 

Essey Wondaferahu was awarded the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in Greece on the Modern Odyssey to Ancient Greece program. Greece’s historical skill at constructing large public forums caught her attention due to its potential to inform aircraft design. She also looks forward to increasing her ability to quickly adapt to new locations while on this study abroad since her industry often involves changing worksites and projects.

 

Essey has an adventurous spirit and is excited to try new foods, learn crafts, participate in sports, and try out acting in Greek theater while in Greece. Willing to challenge herself with new experiences, she demonstrates her commitment to building connections. 

 

From her past experiences living overseas in Ethiopia, Essey recognizes the value of cross-cultural settings and the benefits of dismantling stereotypes from an early age. As her follow-on project, she plans to visit high schools as part of a minority engineering outreach group in hopes of igniting students’ curiosity and understanding of innovations from outside the U.S. so that they will begin to think about choosing to study abroad and financial options.