Freeman-Asia Award Lets UK Senior Finish What He Started

Unlike most college seniors, Patrick Conlon was confident about where he wanted to go. He arrived in Dalian, China in March.

Conlon, a linguistics and political science major, has been passionate about language and culture since he arrived at UK. Immediately following his freshman year, he traveled to Shanghai to study Mandarin. Unfortunately, his trip was cut short when he had to return to the United States for minor surgery. He was able to return to China thanks to the Freeman-Asia Award.

A 2004 graduate of Tates Creek High School, Conlon has been fascinated with language since childhood. He was reading Shakespeare as a sixth grader, but he did not discover his gift for learning foreign languages until he was homebound with an illness during his freshman year of high school.

Motivated largely by boredom, he watched international news programs and was particularly fascinated by French. After merely four months of independent study, he returned to school and tested as a fluent French speaker. Today, Conlon speaks more than 20 languages at various levels.

He is also quick to share his gift with others. His former Education Abroad Advisor, Melinda Miller, saw that firsthand. Conlon tutored her in Dutch before she relocated to Holland. “Patrick’s patience and effectiveness as a language teacher are testament to his desire to promote communication with people from other cultures,” she said.

One of Conlon’s objectives is to show UK students that Education Abroad is open to anyone and everyone. Since enrolling at UK Conlon, who frequently uses a wheelchair, has visited several countries where handicapped and elderly residents stay home because of limited accessibility to public places. These include France and Russia. “I think it does teach people in those countries a bit about how the system might not be as fair to other people,” he reflected.

What about the communication barriers that American students face abroad? Conlon said no one should feel pressured to be fluent in another language before traveling abroad. “Learn the everyday things first off,” he advised. “Think ‘How do I get from the airport to my dormitory? How do I say the things I need to say to do that?’ Or begin by asking ‘How do I introduce myself to people and speak with them?’ Those are the most important things. The rest will come later.”

Finances are another obstacle that Conlon believes most students can overcome. He has learned to rely on the Education Abroad staff at the Office of International Affairs (OIA) for financial advice. “They can help you make a budget and learn to stick to it,” he said. OIA can also assist students in applying for various scholarships.

The Freeman-Asia Award, a $5,000 prize given to students who want to learn more about Asia, allowed Conlon to spend approximately ten weeks at the Dalian University of Foreign Languages, where he had an opportunity to perfect his Mandarin and took additional courses in Chinese politics and international government.

Now that he has returned, he will fulfill the requirements of the scholarship by educating students, faculty and staff on Asian culture. “The project I’ll be doing with the Freeman Foundation is really a continuation of a project that I’ve been doing since I went abroad for the first time -- educating people about why studying abroad is important and why language study is important,” he said.

And he is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to return to China to complete the intensive Mandarin studies he began four years ago.