I was pretty bummed about it when I got the news - I have never been to Japan because I couldn't afford it. Also, I'm not sure how true that is since unfortunately I'm on the facebook forum for CLS applicants and I have seen people get rejected 2,3,4 times in a row. I'll still reapply, but being an undergraduate underclassman, not really getting my hopes up. But I will have my GPA going for me this time, haha.
If you're talking about the Davis Fellowship - it was important to note the philosophy of Kathryn Davis, the woman this fellowship is named after. Basically, preparing a mindset for peace instead of war. I think a successful candidate (given the prompt for the fellowship outlined in the application) would be able to link their language studies, their commitment to language in the past and their future career to creating that mindset and helping to build good relationships with people from different communities. I don't have anything regarding French in terms of prior experience so I talked about my past endeavors with Japanese and I highlighted the relationship Japan has with France, as well as what role I thought I could play by speaking both languages, one of which Middlebury would help me begin studying as I don't have access to French classes nearby.