Have Ambition, Will Travel
For a number of UMBC students, the end of the semester is just the beginning of the adventure. They’ve been invited to the 62nd annual Meeting of the Nobel Laureates, or won Boren awards and Fulbrights to pursue their academic and research ambitions across the globe.
“These are students who stretch the boundaries and want to do something different,” said Brian Souders, associate director of international education services, who helps usher students through the process of applying for Fulbright and Boren awards.
This year, UMBC students earned a record number of Fulbrights: five awards, with one student still waiting to learn if her research will be funded. The students who received Fulbright awards are Vivian Ekey ’11, political science and modern languages and linguistics, who is conducting research in Brazil; Ryan Max ’11, biochemistry, who will teach English in Laos; David Anguish ’12, political science, who will do research in Mexico; Achsah Joseph ’12, media and communication studies and interdisciplinary studies, who will teach English in Malaysia; and Elena Mawyer ’12, modern languages and linguistics, who will teach English in Spain. If selected, Madeline Hall ’12, environmental studies, will do research in New Zealand.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity for an immersive international experience in a culture markedly different from anything that I’ve known,” said Max.
The UMBC environment, Souders said, helps students develop into good candidates for Fulbright awards. “We encourage things like undergraduate research and study abroad, and the fact that the students have faculty members who are willing to help them with the content areas is so helpful,” he said.
“The reason I chose to attend UMBC in the first place was their highly integrated undergraduate language program,” said Mawyer. “I feel like I have a strong background to navigate not only the use of my second language but also any cultural differences that I may encounter during my time in Madrid.”
Fulbright winners aren’t the only students who will be traveling the world after they graduate: UMBC is also sending two graduating seniors to the 62nd Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany. Robert Wardlow ’12 and Patrice Starck ’12, both biochemistry and molecular biology, are among 500 “young researchers” invited to the conference to exchange ideas with Laureates and other young scientists.
“I was shocked that I had been chosen out of the thousands nominated,” said Starck. “It is an honor to attend such a prestigious meeting. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
“For me this invitation gives me the confidence that comes from knowing that other people have taken faith in my aptitude and potential as a young scientist,” said Wardlow. His research concerns chemical signaling of heart cells and the potential therapeutic benefits of stem cells, while Starck is investigating vaccines for the HIV virus
This is the third year in a row that UMBC has sent students to the meeting; past attendees include Phillip Fitzgerald ’11, biochemistry and molecular biology, and Benyam Kinde ’10, biological sciences.
“By attending this meeting, I will interact with people that have been extremely successful and helped to shape the modern face of science in their respective fields. It will be inspirational for me to be in their company. Hopefully by making connections and learning from the other attendees, I will be able to grow to have a similar impact in whatever field I eventually choose to pursue,” said Wardlow.
Opportunities for international travel through prestigious awards aren’t only available to recent graduates, however. One award that current students can take advantage of is the Boren program, which funds U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests.
The Middle East is a region that I have long been fascinated by, so I decided to study Arabic when I came to UMBC, said Stevenson Ramsey 13, political science, who received a Boren Scholarshipfor the study of advanced level Arabic in Jordan next year. “The Boren scholarship provides an avenue to further my study of the Arabic language, so it was a perfect fit for me.”
“The semester before my application, I had taken a class on U.S. national security policy. Given the nature of the Boren award, this class turned out to be immeasurably helpful in writing my application essays,” said Ke Tang ’14, visual arts, political science and history, who will also study Arabic in Jordan on a Boren Scholarship.
For the first time, UMBC also has a graduate student Boren recipient: Kate Witt 13, M.A., intercultural communication, received a Boren Fellowship to study Portuguese and conduct immigration reform studies with the Bolivian migrant community in Brazil.
“The [intercultural communication] faculty strongly supported my interest in Boren and made themselves available for draft reviews and discussions regarding my research topic,” she said. “I’m thrilled at the opportunity to conduct my thesis research in Brazil. The Boren Fellowship makes my once far-fetched research topic possible.”
Molly Bradtke ’13, English, history and Asian studies, is an alternate for the Boren Scholarship for her planned study abroad program in Beijing and Harbin, China.
(5/31/12)
