ATLANTA —Three Georgia State graduates have been selected as recipients of a grant through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2024-25 academic year. The program offers more than 2,000 grants to support studying and completing graduate training at a foreign university, conducting research for a specific project or teaching English overseas in over 140 countries.
Fulbright recipients spend between six and 12 months (depending on the country recipients are traveling to and the type of grant) working with, living with and learning from the people they encounter in their host country. Awardees practice people-to-people diplomacy and often return with a greater appreciation of cross-cultural exchange and a better understanding of the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Fulbright partner countries.
Before the final selections were made, GSU had seven semifinalists out of 15 applicants who had submitted applications. Nearly all the applicants either worked with GSU’s Fulbright Program Advisor Marc Reyes or the university’s Fulbright Campus Committee, made up of faculty and staff who are Fulbright alumni or have advised on programs like Fulbright.
GSU’s three Fulbrighters are:
Kayla Burrow (B.A. '23), an Honors College alumna:
Burrow received her bachelor’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the College of Arts & Sciences and earned the Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate in her time at GSU. She has studied Japanese and Mandarin and served as a linguistic accessibility research intern at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Burrow also worked for GSU’s Intensive English Program and Community-Based Academic English Program, where she recently served as the latter program’s coordinator. In early August, Burrow departed for Taiwan to spend the next 11 months as an English language teaching assistant.
Madison McNair (B.A. '19), an Honors College alumna:
McNair completed a bachelor’s in Journalism from the College of Arts & Sciences with a concentration in Multimedia Reporting and a minor in Speech during her time at GSU. After graduation, McNair worked at Sign1News, where she helped produce news in American Sign Language (ASL) for the deaf community.
McNair has obtained research affiliations from two Italian organizations, a university and a nonprofit that supports deaf and deaf/blind children and their families. In September, she will depart for Italy to spend the next six months as a researcher, examining how media is constructed in Italy and how accommodating it is for deaf people. She also will teach elementary deaf students ASL and journalism skills.
Litzy Perez (B.S. '22), an Honors College alumna:
Perez earned a bachelor’s degree from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies in Criminal Justice with a minor in Chinese Language and Culture. As a 2023 recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship, Perez spent two months studying Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese culture at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University.
Perez has spent the past year serving as the Woodruff, Whitehead and Evans Foundations' fellow in philanthropy and a volunteer English as a Second Language instructor. Like Burrow, Perez will spend 11 months teaching English in Taiwan.
Becoming a Fulbright Scholar
Successful Fulbright applicants work on their applications over the summer, revising essays and reaching out to possible recommenders. Applications for the U.S. Student Program are due Oct. 8, 2024.
Applicants typically find out if they are finalists in the winter, and then — if they are selected — scholars in the spring. Interested students are encouraged to reach out to Marc Reyes for more information and support with their application.
Reyes, a Fulbright Scholar himself, says, “I love working with our Fulbright applicants. I know the work it takes to produce the strongest possible application and how to stand out and win this competitive award. As a Fulbright alum, it is a privilege to be among the first people to welcome them into the Fulbright community. As is often the case, it is the beginning of a lifelong relationship.”
Click here to learn more about how Georgia State's Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships can support students seeking study abroad, research, leadership and graduate studies awards.
The Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships (ONSF) works with GSU students (undergraduates and alumni) who seek to complement their college experience work with national and international awards focused on study abroad, research, leadership and graduate studies.
Applying for and winning prestigious awards helps students and alumni stand out further in their fields and better prepares them for future success. This office is part of GSU's Honors College, but is a resource available to all students – regardless of whether they are Honors students.
If you are interested in how this office can support you, reach out to Marc Reyes, assistant director of national scholarships and fellowships.