Three recent Hope College graduates have received recognition through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Sydney Bryer, a member of the Class of 2015 from Olathe, Kansas, and Kimberly Collins, a 2014 graduate from Carmel, Indiana, have each received English Teaching Assistantships. Crystal Hollis, a 2010 graduate from Elmhurst, Illinois, has been named an alternate for a research fellowship.
Several Hope students or recent graduates have received the awards through the years, including three last year and a total of 24 since 2008.
Bryer will spend August through June 2016 in Germany. She majored in German and Special Education, and her studies at Hope included spending the fall 2012 semester in Berlin, Germany. After her time abroad through the Fulbright award, she plans to return to the U.S. and be a special-education teacher.
Collins anticipates spending most of 2016 in Uruguay. She majored in Spanish and international studies, and her time at Hope included spending the spring 2013 semester in Valparaiso, Chile. She spent the summer after graduation in Palestine working with peacemaking organizations through an affiliate of Christian Reformed World Missions, and most recently has interned at The International Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, offering cross-cultural training for various businesses, government entities and non-profits. She hopes to pursue a career in corporate social responsibility for international companies and eventually to become a professor.
As an alternate, Hollis is still under consideration for a research fellowship, should one become available if one of the initial research recipients declines. Her research project, which she would tie to a doctoral program in the United Kingdom, would involve studying medieval graffiti in English churches and how they relate to religious and superstitious beliefs. She majored in history and minored in computer science at Hope, and her time at the college included spending the fall 2008 semester at the University of Westminster in London. She completed Master of Arts degree in creative writing at the University of Westminster in 2012. She has been working in public libraries since 2013, and since the summer of 2014 she has been creating and holding writing workshops for teens and adults at public libraries and museums. She eventually hopes to become a history professor in addition to continuing to write.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards more than 1,800 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.