Fifteen Students and Alumni Offered Fulbrights

Evelyn Fernandez-Lizarraga ’16
San Diego, Calif.
Linguistics and comparative literature double major
English teaching assistant grant, South Korea

“My Dartmouth experience centered on studying language in all its contexts: from literature to linguistics, in culture and society—through my Spanish foreign study program in Argentina; my Spanish sociolinguistics project analyzing the relationship between family, language, and identity through the perspective of Latino literature and linguistics; and as a Spanish drill instructor and a multilingual writing tutor. One of my most meaningful experiences was my Dartmouth Partners in Community Service Internship with the International Rescue Committee in San Diego, where I taught vocational English to Iraqi refugees and helped them apply for their first jobs in the U.S. I saw how my linguistics training could have a direct positive impact on people’s lives. As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I was always taught to dream big, but perhaps privilege is knowing the scope of what’s possible. Although I am declining the Fulbright, applying for it confirmed my desire to work with language education and bilingualism. This fall I’ll be starting a master’s program in Hispanic linguistics at the University of New Mexico, specializing in U.S. Spanish sociolinguistics and heritage Spanish speakers. For me, receiving the Fulbright is not the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, but the start of grander goals. When I reflect on my life, my research, and my work experience, I marvel at how many doors bilingualism opened for me. I want to afford those same types of opportunities for others.”

Joshua Warzecha ’17
Clayton, Calif.
Arabic and linguistics modified with Hebrew double major
English teaching assistant grant, Israel

“Growing up, I had a lot of friends who were bilingual, and that interested me. My mom is Japanese-American and my dad is Polish-Italian, but they don’t speak those languages. The Arabic LSA+ in Rabat, Morocco, was my first time spending more than a week abroad, and it opened my eyes to a lot of interesting linguistic situations. I also spent a term in Jordan on a Boren Scholarship through the Department of Defense, and with that came the stipulation that I spend a year working for the federal government in a national security capacity. But I applied for Fulbright because I wanted more experience in the Middle East before going into a career. I’ve never been to Israel, and I thought that would be an important region to visit. I’ll be teaching English at a small college in Tel Hai. It seems pretty isolated, which will be good for my language skills—and they’re also going to fund me to study Arabic or Hebrew, which is great. Receiving the Fulbright means a lot, because I kind of view myself as what America is—a coming together of multiple cultures and backgrounds and races—so for me to be able to represent that abroad is important.”

For the full article please go to the Dartmouth News.