Chippewa Valley Times

UW-Stout student Fox Haring has been awarded a prestigious U.S. Department of State scholarship to study Mandarin Chinese this summer through the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program. Haring was among approximately 500 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students selected from over 5,000 applicants.

Haring, a third-year psychology student, participated in the CLS Spark initiative, an eight-week immersive online program designed for undergraduates to learn one of five critical languages essential to America’s global engagement: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian. The program is facilitated by native speakers at CLS partner institutions abroad.

Haring’s group included four other students from across the United States. Their lessons in Chinese improved their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Additionally, they engaged in cultural enrichment activities such as calligraphy, kung-fu, cooking, and tea making.

“The small class size allowed us to engage in conversation that allowed both the students and the teacher to learn more about the other’s culture. The format allowed us to ask questions and learn more about their traditions,” said Haring.

A resident of Milwaukee with four years of Spanish education and self-study in several other languages, Haring is currently taking German at UW-Stout this fall. “CLS Spark was the perfect opportunity to study a language that wasn’t offered at Stout and would be too difficult to study on my own," he said.

Psychologically speaking, Haring noted that learning languages benefits the brain by increasing neuron plasticity and flexing cognitive muscles which can help prevent memory disorders like dementia. “Learning another language allows people to gain a greater understanding of other cultures and use that knowledge to reflect on their own experiences,” he added.

Haring appreciated the small class sizes of both CLS Spark and UW-Stout for facilitating information sharing and connection with classmates. He found the program's Oral Proficiency Exam challenging but valuable: “It’s meant to test your understanding of the language... If there weren’t any challenges, we’d never learn anything.”

Initially interested in clinical therapy within psychology, Haring has shifted his focus towards social work or administrative roles related to medical fields. He expressed interest in working outside of the United States in the future.

“Whether it’s relevant to the job or not,” he believes a second language is beneficial career-wise as it enables work in non-English primary language environments. In social work particularly, being able to communicate in multiple languages can be especially helpful for serving clients with limited English proficiency.

As a participant in CLS Spark, Haring will automatically be a semifinalist for next year’s overseas summer institutes in Taiwan, China or Singapore. He encourages others interested in learning new languages to apply for similar programs: “College is the perfect time... There are a lot of opportunities if you look for them.”

Haring hopes to study abroad in Germany next spring before graduating in summer 2026. Post-graduation plans include either working in Minnesota or applying for graduate schools in Germany or Belgium.

UW-Stout offers its students over 200 study abroad programs across more than 40 countries as part of Stout Core—foundational general education classes aimed at providing global perspectives along with communication and critical thinking skills.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is an initiative by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs aimed at expanding American proficiency in foreign languages critical for national security and economic prosperity.