¡®Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø made it possible¡¯ for Fulbright recipient
Last spring Stephie Benito ¡¯20 stopped by Dr. Mike Egan¡¯s office for advice on applying for a Fulbright grant.
¡°While I knew that earning a Fulbright is very challenging, and that the best students from the best schools across America compete for these awards, I knew that Stephie could match up with anyone,¡± said Dr. Egan, Benito¡¯s advisor for four years.
He was right.
A year since that first meeting, Benito has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) in Colombia, South America, for the 2020-2021 school year. The Spanish education major is set to leave in late July for placement in a university-level class to assist with teaching English.
¡°I never in a million years would have thought that I could be a Fulbright recipient, but Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø really made it possible for me,¡± Benito said. ¡°Both the education and Spanish departments have always pushed me to strive for excellence and encouraged me to chase my dreams, even if they seemed like a long shot!¡±
The Fulbright application process is intense. In addition to writing several essays, Benito was asked to outline a community involvement project for her host city. ¡°I chose starting a youth choir as my project so that I could keep music in my life and help others experience it,¡± said Benito, a member of the Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Choir. She is also involved in theatre and Chi Alpha Pi sorority, and works as a Spanish tutor for the Learning Commons.
For her application references, Benito asked three professors who know her very well¡ªDr. Ana Border¨ªa Garc¨ªa (Spanish), Dr. Michael Schroeder (education) and Dr. Sangeetha Rayapati (music). And as Benito sees it, ¡°I absolutely would not have gotten this opportunity without their help!¡±
The Fulbright will make Benito¡¯s childhood dreams reality. Growing up, she spent her summers traveling to Spain and other countries to visit family. She knew early on she wanted to continue traveling and to be a teacher.
¡°The Fulbright allows me both to teach a foreign language and to get to live in a new country and immerse myself in a new culture,¡± she said. ¡°As a future Spanish teacher, living in Colombia for a year will help me be able to bring my experiences into my own classroom when I return to the United States.¡±
Similar to his prediction for Benito¡¯s chances of receiving a Fulbright, Dr. Egan offers a second one.
¡°Stephie will devote her full energy to being the best English teacher she can be, and this, in turn, will lead to other amazing opportunities,¡± he said. Those other opportunities could be grad school, continued international employment, returning to the United States to be a tremendous high school Spanish teacher, or some other wonderful thing no one can predict.
That¡¯s the beauty of a Fulbright.