Lina Bondesson – Finding Peace through Language Learning

A conversation with Lina Bondesson, BA in Conflict Resolution, Minor in Korean Studies, Honors College

Raised in a military family, Lina Bondesson moved six times before high school, shuttling between Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and Germany. “It was challenging,” she recalled.  “New School.  New friends.  We were uprooted a lot.” By the time she entered high school, her family was stationed in Northern Virginia.

In her junior year of high school, Lina received a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to study abroad for a year. The program, “YES Abroad,” was designed to expose high school students to countries with a majority Muslim population. For the first time, Lina chose to uproot herself when she studied in North Macedonia. “I think that’s when I started to develop a more serious interest in other countries and cultures,” she said, “Studying abroad and living with a Macedonian host family at such a young age definitely had a significant impact on my life.”

After graduating from high school in 2023 and through her first two years at GMU, Lina worked with the YES Abroad program as an alumni coordinator, working full-time over the summer and part-time through the academic year. As the inaugural alumni coordinator, Lina organized opportunities for and managed the nationwide network of more than 800 alumni, from which she recruited and trained more than 25 volunteers across 22 U.S. cities who went on to plan and execute events in their own communities.

An Honors College Student, Lina originally applied to the Global Affairs program, but it was when she met the representatives from the Carter School at a fair for prospective GMU students that she decided to switch majors to conflict resolution. When asked why she chose to switch, she jokingly responded, “The Carter School had a better pitch!” Lina explained, “I spoke with the student representative, who really took the time to answer my questions. They emphasized the small class sizes and versatility of the major, which were both very appealing to me. I ultimately decided to switch my major and have never regretted my choice.”

Minoring in Korean studies, a natural fit with her major in conflict resolution, Lina elected to spend her Fall 2025 semester studying at the Mason Korea campus. In her words, she “absolutely loved” the experience. So, when applications opened for the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), Lina applied.

Fully funded by the U.S. State Department, the CLS program provides opportunities for college students to travel abroad and spend two months studying languages of strategic importance to U.S. foreign affairs goals. The program is rigorous, immersive, and intensive, the equivalent of a year’s worth of study in only eight weeks. Out of 4,500 applicants, only 315 students were accepted into the program, Lina included.

From June to August 2026, Lina travelled to Gwangju, South Korea as a Critical Language Scholar, along with 21 other students. “It definitely helped that I had three years of Korean at Mason, plus the semester at Mason Korea,” she said. “Thanks to that experience, I had already achieved an intermediate-high score in Korean on my pre-program placement test, which gave me a great foundation to build on.”

In Gwangju, Lina studied at Chonnam National University where she attended class from 9am to 1pm every day. Based on her preliminary Oral Proficiency Interview [OPI] exam, Lina was placed in the highest tier of proficiency. “Classes were entirely in Korean, no English,” she explained.  “The classes were rigorous, preparing us for the post-program OPI, which is a language examination used by the government to assess proficiency. We discussed many diverse topics in class, but there was a strong emphasis on policy and current events, including global warming, fair trade, and Korean history. Our last unit focused on conflict and war, which was of particular interest to me, given my major.”

In addition to her classes, Lina attended weekly, one-on-one meetings with her professors to address any additional questions from class and to practice more for the OPI exam. She was also paired with a language partner, a Korean college student, with whom she met for at least four hours a week. “My student mentor, Byeol, was a psychology student, which of course has some overlap with conflict resolution.  She also loved travel and learning about other cultures, so we had plenty to talk about.” When asked how she got along with her student mentor, Lina replied, “We shared a similar outlook on life; we got along very well.  I plan to stay in contact with her.”

After returning from Korea in August, Lina is currently in her final semester at Mason. She is looking forward to gaining more work experience. “I want to try many different things, but I would like to combine my skill in Korean with my interest in conflict resolution and international education.” After spending her childhood learning to belong in new places, Lina is aiming for a career path that builds bridges between people and cultures.