Gilman scholarship helps WSU student find value in study abroad beyond her major

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The 2025 First Generation Abroad group poses in front of the Seville, Spain city sign. Leisly Hernandez Alvarado, pictured tenth from the left, partially funded her trip abroad after earning the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship (photo courtesy of Leisly Hernandez Alvarado).

Leisly Hernandez Alvarado caught the travel bug early.

She went on her first study abroad trip in Vietnam, and it set in motion her passion for travel, leading her to a recent trip to Spain.

The study abroad programs she chose didn’t perfectly align with her agriculture biotechnology major, but Hernandez Alvarado wanted to visit places she’d never been before and learn. Last year, Hernandez Alvarado earned a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship that afforded her a trip on a faculty-led program to Seville, Spain. Read the full story.