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Mike McDonel, a 2009 Miami University graduate from Archbold, has been awarded a Fulbright study grant for 2009-2010 to take part in a nine-month intensive Arabic language study at the University of Jordan in Amman.
McDonel, a political science major with a minor in Middle East and Islamic studies, also received a second grant, a Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award, which will allow him to study at the Qasid Institute for an additional six months until December 2010.
A member of Beta Theta Pi at Miami, a fraternity brother first suggested to McDonel to study Arabic. “I grew more and more interested in the Arab world through my major, seduced by the complexity and gravity of the issues (there), and was driven to remedy my significant lack of knowledge about the region,” McDonel said.
McDonel studied Arabic for three years at Miami with professors Saleh Yousef and Elizabeth Bergman, and was actively involved in the Model Arab League program and the Arabic Club. In summer 2008, McDonel participated in Miami’s Inside Washington program and was an intern at NBC’s “Meet The Press.” He graduated cum laude from Miami and also received Miami’s Howard White Award for Political Science, membership into Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honorary, and was inducted into Mortar Board Honor Society.
McDonel’s advice for other students: “Try and take a risk before you head for the real world. A big reason I applied for a Fulbright grant is to just do something totally different for a while.”
McDonel is the son of David McDonel of Archbold and Karla McDonel of Defiance.
The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
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