UP students sweep up Fulbrights

By Natalie Wheeler, Staff Writer -- wheelern12@up.edu

When senior Nick Balthrop decided to spend a year in Salzburg, he wasn't even thinking about the possibility of a Fulbright grant.

"I had heard about (Fulbright) but I didn't know much about it," Balthrop said. "I really wasn't sure if I was going to apply. My plan initially was actually to go to law school."

The Fulbright Student Program is a grant given to students to go to one of 155 countries. Fulbright is the largest of any granting agency, with 1,500 grants given out every year. There are two types of grants: English Teaching Assistantships and Research grants.

"It's a unique program because it's a year abroad, but not in school," said Dr. John Orr, assistant to the Provost for Fellowships and Grants. "You have to go to graduate school for most of the grants."

Balthrop's plans could be changing because he is applying for a Fulbright grant to spend a year teaching English in Germany. As a student at the University of Portland, which hosts the second highest number nationally of Fulbright scholars among master's institutions according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, his chances are good, statistically.

Of the 28 UP students who have ever received Fulbright grants, 25 have gone to Germany. Balthrop sees the university's most popular study abroad program in Salzburg, Austria, as a major reason for so many UP Fulbright scholars.

"I think the Salzburg program is definitely a big part of that," Balthrop said. "It's not in Germany obviously but it's a German culture and it's a year long. Across the U.S. schools are cutting down their German programs, but that has always been a staple at UP."

Isaac Otto, a 2010 UP graduate, is now a Fulbright scholar teaching in Germany. Otto says his Salzburg experience laid the groundwork for his current work in Germany.

"Salzburg is a unique and wonderful experience in itself and offered a great foundation for experiencing Germany again as a Fulbrighter," Otto said in an e-mail.

Orr said that the reason the Fulbright scholarship is so popular among students who have gone to Salzburg is because Germany awards the most Fulbright grants.

"Germany offers more Fulbrights than any country by a factor of about 10," Orr said. "They offer 140 teaching positions while most countries offer 10 to 15."

Fr. Art Wheeler, C.S.C., director of Studies Abroad, thinks that the strength of UP's German program encourages Fulbright scholars.

"Our German faculty do an excellent job of preparing students," Wheeler said. "We have a good team in both Austria and at UP."

Otto says that he is grateful for UP's support throughout his Fulbright application process.

"UP, UP faculty and the UP community were essential to my application process and even thereafter.  Both Dr. Orr and the German department were absolutely wonderful guides to the application," Otto said.

Orr also stressed that it is important for a student to have shown prior interest in the country to which he or she wishes to go.

"It's crucial that you have to have some knowledge of the country you are applying to," Orr said. "You don't necessarily need to know the language, though. It depends on the country."

Senior Brianna Hodge is one of the few UP students applying for a Fulbright outside of Germany. She hopes to use her possible Fulbright grant to research sex trafficking in Cambodia.

"I took a trip to Cambodia after high school, and that is when I first learned about sex trafficking," Hodge said. "I want to work with survivors or victims looking at treatment programs, and do an evaluation of system for treatment and see how they can improve it."

Even though Germany offers many more Fulbright grants than Cambodia, which offers five, Hodge is not worried.

"I think that it's different for each person," Hodge said. "My experience and what I want to do don't work with Germany."

Orr believes that the university's high number of Fulbright scholars also reflects the character of UP students.

"They want people engaging in the culture outside of the classroom," Orr said, "and when a UP student talks about volunteering, they mean it."

Otto couldn't be more excited to immerse himself into German culture.

"(The Fulbright Program) wants grantees to go out and live, create memories, and get to know the culture instead of working the whole time. I am still in the settling-in point right now but I will soon be able to create a life in Germany for a limited period," Otto said.