Mississippi State is honoring its exceptional faculty and staff with annual awards for their outstanding teaching, mentoring, advising and contributions to the university’s students.

Two Mississippi State undergraduates will study foreign languages abroad and virtually this summer thanks to the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship Program.

For Mississippi State University graduate Alijah Jones, the road to a Fulbright Scholarship began in the stillness of the pandemic. Feeling a lack of connection, Jones said he “indulged” in internet browsing, happening upon a YouTube video––“Dinner with my Italian Host Family.” Stepping outside the loneliness of isolation, he found not just a glimpse into another culture, but a spark that would one day take him across the world.