Rising Ogden Honors junior awarded Gilman Scholarship, will spend a year in the UAE studying computer science

Brynali Marshall, a rising Ogden Honors junior majoring in interdisciplinary studies with minors in Arabic, analytics, and computer science at LSU, was named a 2023 Gilman Scholar. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program enables students to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity. To be eligible for the Gilman Program, applicants must be receiving a Federal Pell Grant. 

“I love to travel and explore different cultures, but as a student, frequent travel can be hard to balance, which is what originally drew me to study abroad,” said Marshall. “Under the advisement of Jill Clemmons from Academic Programs Abroad, I was able to find a program that fit my degree plan and my personal interests.”

Marshall will be spending a year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) attending the University of Sharjah as a bilateral exchange student where she will participate in data science research that will focus on the advancement of complex algorithms used in business analysis. 

Marshall’s first time traveling abroad was only recently when she traveled to Morocco with the LSU Arabic Department studying Islamic Law and Politics. Traveling to the UAE will be her second time out of the country.  

“The computer science industry in the UAE is very lucrative and the university I'll be attending has many opportunities that aren't available at LSU,” Marshall noted. “I'd like to go into Business Intelligence (BI) within the gaming industry, and I feel that my background in Arabic and international studies leaves me open to a lot of interesting opportunities in the field.”

Marshall grew up in Baton Rouge and converted to Islam in 2020, and she is excited to spend time in another Muslim country. “My time in Morocco has been an extremely enriching experience that's allowed me to see what it's like to live in a Muslim country. Although these countries are not a monolith, the underlying faith shows through in the culture and it's the part I've enjoyed most. I’m excited to experience this in the UAE as well.”