Elmhurst University nursing student Nathan Bucio ’27 has been awarded a prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, enabling him to divert briefly from his busy schedule and take some time to study abroad.

Bucio, of Melrose Park, Illinois, is the most recent of 20 Elmhurst University students over the past few years to receive the highly competitive Gilman Scholarship. The Gilman is the U.S. Department of State’s flagship undergraduate study abroad scholarship, and enables students of limited financial means to study or intern overseas, where they develop new skills and perspectives that the State Department describes as “critical to national security and economic prosperity” back in the U.S.

“This is a big financial help,” Bucio says. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity and how it all came about.”

Elmhurst University’s Gilman winners have used their scholarship funds to study or intern in Ireland, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Spain and Argentina.

Bucio originally had planned to study in Ireland this fall, in a program designed specifically for Elmhurst nursing students. But this spring he started an internship at the University of Chicago Hospitals that he wants to continue in the fall. So now his plans are to study abroad during the 2027 January Term, either in South Korea or Greece.

Ironically, studying abroad had never been on Bucio’s radar. He was involved with the men’s soccer team, first as a player and then as a team helper, and has been juggling his studies with holding down at least one job. While at work one evening as a restaurant server in downtown Elmhurst, he recognized one of his customers as a former high school classmate and fellow Elmhurst student. She was sitting with Marisa Mancini, Elmhurst U.’s national fellowships and scholarships coordinator. Mancini told Bucio about the Gilman and encouraged him to apply.

Although studying abroad was not part of Bucio’s plans, getting the Gilman persuaded him to change them.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he says. “This isn’t something that happens all the time, so now I feel like I really have to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Students receiving a Pell Grant are encouraged to apply for a Gilman Scholarship to help fund a study or internship experience abroad. For more information, contact Marisa Mancini, national fellowships and scholarships coordinator, at [email protected], and visit gilmanscholarship.org.