Three students receive Won-Joon Yoon scholarship

Three students were given scholarships July 7 in memory of Won-Joon Yoon, an IU graduate student from Korea who was killed July 4, 1999 in an act of extremist violence outside the Korean United Methodist Church.\nEducation doctoral student Edward Brantmeier was awarded a $2,000 scholarship. Senior Christine Lim and doctoral student Ana Correia were awarded $500 scholarships. Doctoral student Erjen Khamaganova, of Russia, received a book prize.\nThe scholarships were established in Yoon's honor in 1999, according to an IU news release. The scholarship provides financial support for IU-Bloomington students who have exemplified tolerance and understanding across racial and religious lines through service, personal commitment, academic and future potential. The winners were honored July 7 at a reception hosted by Interim President Gerald Bepko. \nCorreia, an education student from Portugal, said she plans to use her scholarship to help fund her research on conflict in cross-cultural teams. She said the main purpose of her work is to gain an understanding of how people from different cultures successfully work and learn together. When she came to IU, she said she noticed that teamwork was not always easy for international students, and she wants to change that. \nCorreia said she will share her research with teams, facilitators, managers and educators to better understand the issues and problems that emerge in a cross-cultural team. \n"The goal of my study is to help people live, interact, work and learn in a world of peace and differences," Correia said.\nLim, of the Phillipines, is an undergraduate in the Kelley School of Business. She worked as the CommUNITY Educator for Eigenmann Hall last spring and will be returning in the fall. Currently, she is organizing an event with the Asian Culture Center called "Asian Cultures around Campus."\n"As far as I know, I am the only student from the Phillipines here at IU," Lim said. "Of course I've met many Filipino-Americans, but I find that I stand out from the rest of the international students because I don't have any social support from my native homeland in terms of language and the like."\nLim said she has discovered that most Americans, including Filipino-Americans, have stereotypes of what a Filipino should look like. She said she has heard Americans call Filipinos "FLIPS" or "Little Island People," both of which offend her.\nPrior to transferring to IU last fall, Lim lived in Singapore. She said she experienced many negative reactions there from people when she told them where she was from. \n"I constantly have to prove to myself that I can break those stereotypes in the society I live in," Lim said.\nWhen she came to America, Lim said she was surprised to see how segregated the international students are from American students. She said she sees a lack of communication and a gap between foreigners and Americans.\nLim will be facilitating one of the Conversations of Race programs this fall. She also has been involved in campus activities such as the National Day of Silence, the Hate Crimes Vigil, Night of Noise and the Conversations on Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lim said she hopes that through her work and these programs she can have a positive, long-lasting impact on students.\n"One has to have the guts to stand up, be open-minded, immerse themselves with other cultures, and step out of their comfort zone in order to work toward a peaceful society," Lim said.