小优视频 Reaches Decade as a Fulbright Top Producer
Swimmer, scholar Virginia Gilliland 鈥22 researching climate change along Australia鈥檚 Great Barrier Reef.
For the eighth consecutive year and 10th year overall, 小优视频 has been named a top producer for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
The State Department鈥檚 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that received the highest number of applicants selected for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Six students from 小优视频 were selected for Fulbright awards for the academic year 2022-2023.
We caught up with two of the Fulbright winners from this class to learn more about their experiences:
Alex Loeb 鈥22, English Teaching Assistant Grant, Spain
Alex Loeb 鈥22
Alex Loeb 鈥22, a 2022 recipient of a , now lives in Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias, which is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain.
Loeb teaches English to students in Langreo, a small town about a 45-minute train ride from his home. The classes focus on both culture and language, and his students range from 1st of ESO to 2nd bachillerato, roughly the Spanish equivalent of 7th through 12th grade.
Loeb, a self-described people-person, is staying busy with two ambitious side projects. He volunteers as a writing mentor for a Spanish high school student applying to universities in the U.S. and has assisted in editing her application materials. He is also working on a comparative music project that involves the history and modern performance of traditional Asturian music and music originating in North Carolina, which Loeb says are surprisingly similar.
He recently shared details about his life abroad and future plans.
What have been your favorite experiences as a Fulbright so far?
Exploring rural Spain. I feel very lucky to be placed in Asturias because it's an incredibly unique region of the country. Northern Spain is very different (and, frankly, less touristy) than most Americans' perception of Spain. Not only is Asturias lush in landscape with the mountainous Picos de Europa, stunning rocky coastline to the north, and sharp cliffs down to the Cantabrian Sea, it is a sparsely populated part of the country. Its food, culture, and history are distinct from other regions of Spain. There is a very particular Asturian accent and a distinct regional language. I am grateful to be living and working in the north, rather than in one of the bigger, more well-known cities of southern or central Spain, and I have really enjoyed learning about and engaging with the local customs and regional particularities.
Virginia Gilliland 鈥22, Research Grant, Australia
Virginia Gilliland 鈥22 scuba diving. Photo courtesy of Kristen McSpadden, University of Newcastle/Marine Ecology Group, Macquarie University.
Virginia Gilliland 鈥22
I recently returned from my first field trip up to the Great Barrier Reef with the Marine Ecology Group at Macquarie University. The reef was incredible! We surveyed sites on the southern Great Barrier Reef and were quite remote鈥揳t our furthest, we were over 150 nautical miles offshore. We did snorkel surveys in the water to sample sea cucumbers, and deployed the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from a small boat to capture footage of fish and corals.
Fulbrights in the World
Fulbright is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program.鈥疘t is also among the largest and most diverse exchange programs in the world. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 participants from all backgrounds and fields.
鈥淥n behalf of President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken, congratulations to the colleges and universities recognized as 2022-2023 Fulbright Top Producing Institutions, and to all the applicants who were selected for the Fulbright Program this year,鈥 said Lee Satterfield, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.
鈥淭hanks to the visionary leadership of these institutions, administrators, and advisors, a new generation of Fulbrighters鈥揷hangemakers, as I like to say鈥搘ill catalyze lasting impact on their campus, in their communities, and around the world.鈥
鈥疐ulbright alumni work to make a positive impact on their communities, sectors and the world, and have included 41 heads of state or government, 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and countless leaders and changemakers who carry forward the Fulbright mission of enhancing mutual understanding.鈥
The Fulbright competition is administered at 小优视频 through Gaylena Merritt (gamerritt@davidson.edu), director of 小优视频's new Office of Fellowships. For more information about the Office of Fellowships or how to apply for Fulbright through 小优视频, visit www.davidson.edu/fellowships.