Derian De La Torre ’18 and Jie Ying Mei ’19 have been awarded Freeman-ASIA awards for study abroad in China this summer.
De La Torre, an economics concentrator from Brooklyn, will study in Beijing this summer through Hamilton’s Associated Colleges in China (ACC) program and will study in Hamilton’s program in New York City during the fall semester.
Major: Economics
High School: Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
At Hamilton he is employed as Library Information Technology Services AV technician. De La Torre has served a teaching assistant for College Now at Hostos Community College in Brooklyn. On campus he is vice president and former treasurer of Black and Latino Student Union (BLSU) and a member of the Brothers Organization. He has also served as resident advisor for the Higher Education Opportunity Program and a volunteer math coach for Let’s Get Ready in the Bronx.
Mei will also study in China through Hamilton’s ACC program this summer and will be enrolled in the School of Oriental and African studies in London for the fall semester.
A history major at Hamilton she is a student assistant in the Wellin Museum of Art. Mei also works as a student assistant in the Office of Residential Life and was an office intern for Hamilton’s Opportunity Programs office. She has been involved with Hamilton Association for Volunteering, Outreach, and Charity, and as a writer for Signature style magazine.
Freeman Awards for Study in Asia support U.S.-based undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who are planning to study overseas in East or Southeast Asia. The program’s goal is to increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents with first-hand exposure to and understanding of Asia and its peoples and cultures.
Major: History
High School: Academy of American Studies
Hometown: Woodside, N.Y.
Award recipients are required to share their experiences with their home campuses or communities to encourage study abroad by others and fulfill the program's goal of increasing understanding of Asia in the United States.
From its inception in 2001, Freeman-ASIA has made study abroad in East and Southeast Asia possible for over 4,600 U.S. undergraduates from more than 600 institutions.
