SLLC Student Named 2023-24 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar

The program honors Ira Valeza ’24, a double major in Chinese and government and politics, and her teacher mentors.

By Lauren Hargrave

Ira Valeza ’24, a double major in Chinese and government and politics, was named a 2023-24 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar. The program acknowledges outstanding graduating seniors as well as the teachers and professors who guided their academic journey. 

Valeza was honored earlier this month at a ceremony on campus, along with her 11th grade English teacher Brendan Williams, of Oakland Mills High School, in Columbia, Maryland; and her Chinese instructor, Senior Lecturer Guiling Hu, of the UMD School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. 

"I want to say thank you to my mentors for their openness and constant guidance,” Valeza said. “It feels nice to be seen and recognized. It’s been worth working so hard to do the best in my classes, and I’m glad I’ve been able to give back to my teachers." 

Valeza credits Williams, her high school English teacher, with inspiring her confidence: “from writing and expressing myself, to quickly arguing my character role for Mock Trial, and being an independent person about to step out into the world.” 

Hu was Valeza’s first Chinese professor, and she was a “positive constant” throughout her journey learning Chinese, Valeza said. 

“There’s a sharp transition between grade school and college language classes, which made me anxious about continuing to learn Chinese,” Valeza said. “But Professor Hu was patient and kind.”

Valeza studied abroad in Taiwan and has earned multiple scholarship awards, including the Adele Austin Rickett Memorial Scholarship and the Tsung Chin Chinese Calligraphy Scholarship. She is currently interning at the Chinese American Museum in Washington, D.C. After graduation, she plans to return to Taiwan for graduate school to continue studying Chinese. Eventually, she hopes to use Chinese as a language officer for U.S. government intelligence agencies and become an expert in East Asian international relations.