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Yo soy una erudita de Fulbright. Jsem Fulbright učenec. Ich bin ein Fulbright-Stipendiat.

I am a Fulbright scholar.

This year, four �԰����� seniors earned the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Award. The soon-to-be graduates will spend one year teaching English language skills to students of various age groups. Emily Acker ’16 is placed in Tunja, Colombia, at the University of Boyacá; Sonam James ’16 in Zlín, Czech Republic; Laurel Meister ’16 in the Thuringia region of Germany; and Sarah Yaccino ’16 in Ecuador.

Since the creation of the Fulbright Program in 1946, more than 360,000 individuals have served in the program. The  is one type of Fulbright grant and provides a native English speaker the opportunity to serve as a cultural ambassador for the United States. At �԰�����, this is the first year more than two Fulbright scholars have been selected in one cycle.

“It is awesome that four of us were accepted into this prestigious program,” Acker says. “It shows that �԰����� students are well-qualified for opportunities like the Fulbright program. This really is the perfect post-grad job.”

Acker, an economics major from College Station, Texas, decided to apply for the program after studying abroad in Mendoza, Argentina, where she became particularly interested in health care policy and its intersection with education. Carrying those interests to Tunja, Acker says she is most excited to interact with Colombian university students and to meet other Fulbright scholars.

Yaccino is returning to Ecuador, where she studied abroad

Southwest in Ecuador, Yaccino plans to use her Fulbright experience as preparation for a career as an English as a second language teacher. A Spanish and human communication double major from Helotes, Texas, Yaccino studied abroad in Quito as a junior. As one of the only American students in her classes, she initially felt intimidated when participating in group discussions with native Spanish speakers. Yaccino plans to use this experience in the future, imagining that this is how many immigrant students feel when they are first introduced to classrooms in the U.S.

“I have always been fascinated with Spanish and I want to work toward celebrating diversity,” Yaccino says. “We should support Spanish and English use in schools and think of kids as funds of knowledge.”

A chief component of the Fulbright ETA program is to design a service project that benefits the local community. Reflecting on the poverty she witnessed in Quito, Yaccino plans to create an education program for children who might not be able to pursue school full time.

In Thuringia, Meister is considering founding a music group at her school as her service project. Originally from Albuquerque, Meister is a clarinetist, an English major, and a German and music minor. She hopes to enter graduate school for English after living in Germany and believes that her Fulbright experience will deepen her understanding of the world and of different education models.

“For me, just applying was a confirmation of all of the work that I had done in college,” Meister says. “I’ll be working in the equivalent of a K through 12 school, so I’m excited about teaching and also becoming fluent in German.”

James will be posted in Zlin, Czech Republic

For James, moving to the Czech Republic is a thrilling opportunity to learn a completely new language. During her junior year James studied abroad in Barcelona and always heard about the beauty and history of the Czech Republic. When she learned about the Fulbright program via a friend, James knew she had to apply. She sees the experience as a test of her independence, as she will likely be one of a few English speakers in the small city of Zlín.

A political science major from Montgomery, Texas, James is eager to start a model United Nations club at her school so that students will have a chance to learn about countries outside the Czech Republic. James says that opportunities like study abroad made her �԰����� education a “very global experience,” and inspired her to become a Fulbright scholar. She plans to apply to law school after her year in Zlín to practice international law.

As these seniors transition from student to teacher, they do so with an institution that operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Moving from one elite network to another, they are not only ambassadors of the U.S., but of their alma mater as well.

For more information about applying to the Fulbright Program, please contact Sarah Pinnock at sarah.pinnock@trinity.edu.