Valerie Vodrey Hendrickson, who is double majoring in Chinese and International (East Asian) Studies, received one of only two undergraduate Student Recognition Awards from the Ohio State Board of Trustees on June 18, 2010. She was nominated for this prestigious award by John Roberts, Dean of Arts and Humanities.

Valerie is a member of Ohio State’s Flagship Chinese program, one of only three in the country. She studied in China in 2009 for six months. She completed her fourth-year Chinese language courses on a 2-month summer study abroad program in Qingdao. To help finance her trip, Valerie earned five Ohio State scholarships (totalling $8,450) --a Humanities Alumni Scholarship, a National Security Education Program Flagship Scholarship, an Intensive Chinese Language Scholarship, a Francille M. Firebaugh Study Abroad Scholarship, and an undergraduate Ralph D. Mershon Study Abroad Scholarship,. In fall 2009, Valerie studied at Yunnan University in Kunming for four additional months.

In addition to her interest in China, Valerie has also had lifelong interests in law and social justice. She regularly volunteers as an advocate for survivors of sexual violence with the Sexual Assault Network of Central Ohio and is an active member of Women and Allies Rising in Resistance, which organizes Take Back the Night in the spring. She also works at least twelve hours weekly at Ohio State Calling, a center in which students call alumni and friends of the university to provide campus news updates and to encourage giving.

Valerie observes, “The encouragement I have found from organizations across Ohio State is inspiring. I am grateful to Humanities and to Ohio State for giving me this chance to be the best that I can be.”

Valerie plans to graduate spring 2011. She is a member of the Honors Collegium, and her honors thesis is likely to be on agrarian change in rural China. After graduation Valerie hopes to return to China on a Fulbright scholarship before finishing her M.A. in the Flagship Program in 2012. After that, she is thinking about law school, where she would focus on international law.