The Gatton Academy first offered the STEM plus program in 2012. At first, only Chinese was offered. It was soon followed by Arabic in 2013, and Russian in 2017. The STEM plus program is designed to supplement Gatton students regular stem courses. For students in the STEM plus tracks, the Academy often encourages them to apply to NSLI-Y, which stands for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. It is a summer scholarship program during which students can spend a summer in other countries immersed in their language track.

The Chinese STEM plus track offers two options for students. The first one is the typical pathway where students start in a beginner’s Chinese class. The second option is for students who want a more demanding Chinese class; the class is called Flagship. Flagship is a program sponsored by the National Security Education Program. Students that are in this program are invited to apply for continued study in WKU Chinese Flagship if they wish to continue studies at WKU and become higher-level speakers.

A typical week for Flagship students is very different from modern Chinese students. For example, they have five classes a week which are divided into two different sections. Three out of five classes are called drill session in which they practice previous materials. The remaining two classes are lecture classes, which are used to assess students’ problems with vocabulary and grammar usages. Moreover, these new topics are expected to have been reviewed the night before to allow for more time to practice in class. Flagship students also have mandatory tutoring sessions, in which they are prohibited from speaking English (unless you are a beginner student).

I am a special case where I’m kind of doing something different from the two. I am not in Flagship, but I’m also not in a typical modern Chinese classroom. As a native speaker, I already have a Chinese background. I pursued STEM plus Chinese to further enrich my knowledge of Chinese. I am in something called independent study. I usually meet with my professor one on one. In this environment, I have the ability to choose how much I want to learn, along with the ability to choose the pace in which I want to go. It is definitely a different experience from the others in Chinese, however, I felt that this was the best option for me.

Choosing to learn a second language (or enrich your first one) is a choice that many Gatton students make. When you sign up to learn a new language, you are not only signing up to learn the language itself, but also the culture which it is from. In today’s world, many cultures are mixing, and it is definitely an advantage to know more than one.

Anna

Nearly 200 students from all over Kentucky call the Gatton Academy their home, and I am one of them. My name is Anna Dong and I’m from Morganfield, a small town in western Kentucky. I first learned about the Gatton Academy in seventh grade but didn’t think much of it until two years later. I decided during my freshman year that I would take a leap of faith and try my best to be accepted into Gatton. Fast forward to the solar eclipse of 2017, I was surrounded by Gatton students watching the sun being hidden before our eyes. Like that, my junior year was full of amazing experiences that I will never forget.

Coming from a small town, I never had the opportunity to really learn my native language, Mandarin. When I decided to apply to Gatton, the first thing I looked into was their stem plus languages program. I was very pleased to find that Mandarin Chinese is included in the program. I’ve been taking Chinese at WKU for two semesters now, and I have learned so much – even my parents, who are native speakers, are impressed. In addition to learning more Mandarin, I got to study abroad in China for ten days. I’ll never forget the steep steps of the Great Wall, the crowded streets of Shanghai, and the weird yet cool statues of district 798.

Speaking of study abroad trips, Costa Rica was just as unforgettable. I spent two weeks learning Costa Rican biodiversity. Filled with sea turtles, colorful birds, weird bugs, and the ocean, the trip could not have been better. I made memories and friends that will always hold a special place in my heart.

People are always so focused on the academics of Gatton. How many credit hours will I get when I graduate? What scholarship will I receive? How will my GPA change while at Gatton? While these questions and their answers are important, I think it’s also important to keep in mind that the Gatton Academy is so much more. I came to Gatton for the academics, but I love Gatton for the memories and friends that I made there.

Anna