UVIC Student Wins $20,000 Premier’s Scholarship
Aug 26, 2010
(News Release) VICTORIA – Third year UVic linguistics student Brittney O’Neill is this year’s winner of the Irving K. Barber Premier’s One World Scholarship worth $20,000. She’ll spend the next two terms at the East China Normal University in Shanghai taking Mandarin language classes and exploring the Chinese metropolis.
O’Neill studied French in high school in Fort St. John but switched to Mandarin when she came to UVic because “it’s a growing language and would be very useful to know.” She’s drawn to “obscure” languages such as old Irish and likes “dabbling” in Icelandic. O’Neill is also a huge fan of ballroom dancing, an interest sparked after attending a barn dance in Fort St. John. She divided her summer between academic and dance classes.