*A correction has been made to Genao's comments about the Caribbean Hollywood on May 9*
While seniors are frantically turning in final projects and underclassmen are cramming for finals, four DePauw students are booking tickets for their adventure abroad as Fulbright recipients. This year’s recipients include seniors Greisy Genao, Rachel Higson, Erin Lupardus and Mary Ann Etling, along with ‘16 grad Kirstyn Walker.
The Fulbright Scholarship is a prestigious 8-12 month long grant that is awarded to approximately 8,000 students annually. There are two types of grants: an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) and Research Study Grant, which includes independent research, study or arts project. The Fulbright program offers these opportunities in more than 150 countries.
According to the Fulbright website, the goal of the program is “to increase mutual understanding between people of the U.S. and people of other countries through exchange.”
The application process is extensive. On top of providing personal data, language reports, references and transcripts, applicants must submit a personal statement and a statement of purpose. The scholarship includes round trip airfare, a monthly stipend and insurance.
Higson said her summer was filled with research to prepare her Fulbright application. She was required to know an extensive amount about the country she wanted to go to. “Over the summer [before senior year] I did so many drafts for the essays,” Higson said. She started her application process during May of her junior year.
Another critical part of the application process is the interview. The interview requires extensive knowledge about the country being applied to. Those who apply for Fulbright often have personal reasons for choosing a certain country.
“I’m Dominican. My parents were born there [and] immigrated to New York. I’ve never been there [Dominican Republic],” Genao, said.
Genao will conduct research on how Dominican folklore and tradition influences diasporic Dominican cinema. Genao said that the Dominican Republic is already making strides into becoming the Caribbean Hollywood.
“Hopefully my research provides insight to an area of cinema that hasn’t been touched into yet, at least in the U.S,” Genao said.
As a mentor for international students at DePauw, Higson was able to connect with students from East Asia. These experiences helped Higson to narrow her interest to that region and ultimately choose to teach English in Taiwan. Higson, an English Writing major and Art History minor, was awarded the ETA grant in Taiwan. “After researching Taiwan, I found that it aligned with my interests,” Higson said. “It has pretty free media and it is influenced by a lot of places while also having its own identity. It’s a very interesting environment to teach in and learn from, myself as well.”
After studying abroad in Vienna in the spring of 2017, Lupardus will return to Austria, which is the only country to offer a mixed grant of ETA and Research. Last spring, Lupardus studied abroad in Austria which connected her with a professor who encouraged her to apply to Fulbright.
“I’m just really excited to be back in Austria, in the mountains and eating delicious food,” Lupardus said.
There Lupardus will teach English for half the time while researching Baroque music at Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität for the other half. Lupardus’ research will have four facets: Baroque cello lessons, concert attendance, private collection publishing and musicology and pedagogy curricula.
When asked what she was most looking forward to about her study, Lupardus said, “immersing myself in the Baroque world, which isn’t very prevalent in the U.S.”
Etling received a grant to go to Gulu, Uganda with one of her professors from her first-year. She has decided to return there through Fulbright to research the barriers that families with disabilities are facing. Etling deferred her plans to attend medical school at Indiana University for a year to continue her research.
“[I hope to] continue to be an advocate for families with disabilities and continue to do global health research,” Etling said.
After completing their year-long Fulbright grants, Higson wants to pursue a PhD in Sociology, Genao wants to earn a masters degree in either writing or film, and Lupardus wants to stay in Austria for at least five years.
When asked if she would recommend other students to apply to Fulbright, Lupardus said, “It’s a lot of work, but what do you have to lose?”