BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Janelle Santos has been named the 2010 recipient of the Technos International Prize through the Tanaka Ikueikai Educational Trust in Japan.
The trust, founded by Japanese businessman and honorary Illinois Wesleyan trustee Kenji Tanaka, honors those who are committed to improving and promoting international relations around the world.
A double major in international studies and sociology, Santos traveled to Japan in June of 2008 as one of those chosen to attend Technos International Week, and presented her experiences during an Asian Colloquium back on the Illinois Wesleyan campus.
A Harwood Heights, Ill., native, Santos has completed internships with the Home Sweet Home homeless shelter in Bloomington, the Illinois Department of Human Services in Chicago, and the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries, which allowed her the chance to work with refugee children from nations including Myanmar, Bhutan and Iraq. “The time I spent with the kids allowed me to discover the stories of actual children and families who were forced to escape from their native countries, and who now seek to make the most of life in America,” Santos said in her award application.