Sylvia Bodo, 18, of Bend, has been studying Korean on her own for four years and wasn’t planning to start studying Mandarin Chinese at all. Last summer, she had the opportunity to visit Taiwan, and began looking for a tutor in a language that was completely new to her.

Bodo, a Summit High senior, was recently awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship by the U.S. State Department to study Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan next academic year.

Lin Hong, an assistant professor of Chinese at Central Oregon Community College, was her tutor last summer and continued to be her teacher after Bodo joined her COCC classes.

“The very first time I met her at the downtown library, and it was a little bit awkward, because she was really nervous,” said Hong. “She didn’t expect to go to a new country…We decided to learn the basic knowledge about the Chinese language and pave the road for her and help her to be comfortable before her trip.”

Hong said Bodo practiced often and learned a lot in the four or five sessions they had together before her trip. Hong advised her student on how to travel in Taiwan, and not to be nervous about her language skills.

“I have a lot of brilliant kids, but I don’t have that many kids who are hard-working and also that smart and very gifted,” said Hong.

Bodo said she’s enjoyed her classes at COCC, and meeting others interested in learning languages in Bend.

“It’s been a challenge, definitely. The writing system is very different from English and even languages like Korean, but I’ve really enjoyed especially working with Lin Hong and getting to know other people interested in language learning in the community,” said Bodo. “It’s been a great environment, I’m really happy to take that class.”

Bodo said she heard about the program and the full-ride scholarship opportunity that comes with it from her parents’ friends, and since she’d been studying Korean on her own, she and her parents thought it would be a good opportunity and way to show her passion for languages. Though she didn’t make it in the first time she applied, she decided to give it another try.

“I went to Taiwan over the summer, and thought that Mandarin was my calling and really wanted to pursue that,” she said. “After college I want to go into foreign service, so I thought this would be a great way to kickstart my career by learning a foreign language.”

Bodo is looking forward to her year in Taiwan and said her biggest goal is to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She’s also interested in continuing to study Korean and majoring in diplomacy in college. She’s debating getting a second degree in Chinese. She wants to take the foreign service exam and work for the U.S. State Department.

Bodo has been accepted to DePaul University’s diplomacy program and is deferring a year to go to Taiwan, she said.

“In the program, I’ll be able to be informed both culturally and politically,” she said. “When I was there last time, there was Chinese fighter jets flying over the island so it feels like a place with a lot of culture and importance on the world stage right now and I’m excited to get to experience that again.”

Bend high schooler Rachel Wallace was accepted to the language program in 2021, and Hong has promoted the program since. Other students from Summit have also been selected to study Russian and Korean.

Studying Chinese gives students a sense of cultural diversity, job opportunities though working overseas and a possible leg up when sending college applications due to the difficulty of the language, said Hong.