Diana Prilepsky, SIS/BA '11, left, and a friend in Tokyo.

Diana Prilepsky, SIS/BA ’11, is hooked on Japan, its culture, language and opportunities. She’s been there three times, with her longest residence being ten months in a high school academic program. As a freshman, Prilepsky was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for D.C’s National Cherry Blossom Festival, and was taking Japanese language courses, but she still felt unsatisfied. How could she go back to Japan and integrate that trip into her academic life?

What caught this Russian-born, American-raised student’s eye was American University’s dual undergraduate degree program (DUDP).

“I knew that when picking a university, I wanted to pick something that had an interesting program with Japan, and AU offered [the DUDP program, which] was really interesting. Instead of a regular exchange program, with DUDP I would act as an international student in Japan, taking regular classes with other Japanese people. At the end of my program, I would receive a diploma from Ritsumeikan University as well,” Prilepsky explains.

The School of International Service (SIS) junior’s determination has caught the eye of others, who want her to succeed just as much as she does. She was awarded a Morgan Stanley Scholarship for Study in Japan, one of only two awarded in the United States each year. As a student of economics and world affairs, Prilepsky is the perfect choice for the scholarship: Morgan Stanley states that eligible recipients “include juniors and seniors at US universities with an interest in economics and international finance.”

As much as she’s looking forward to her time abroad, Prilepsky will miss AU, and cites the accessibility of professors as one of the University’s advantages. “Though I haven’t taken either of their classes and was not their student, two Asia experts, Professor Solis and Professor Heng-Blackburn took the time to talk to me in regards to DUDP and my scholarship that I won. … they were able to point me in the right direction,” she marvels.

The determined student sees herself as an example for equally strong-minded travelers, and looks forward to being an ambassador for AU. “I hope that students in the future can look to me as example of a dual-degree student at the undergraduate level, and won’t feel limited or overwhelmed by the process,” explains Prilepsky earnestly.

“I also really hope that by doing this, the DUDP program can become popular on the American side…We have many Japanese students come to AU on this program every year, so I'm glad I can be representative of the AU version of that type of student.”