Since 2001, 50 Baylor students have been singled out for honors by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, 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 three most recent Baylor undergraduate students to be selected by the prestigious Fulbright program learned the good news toward the end of the spring 2017 semester, and their interests and achievements powerfully reflect the transformational education they received at Baylor.
Jade A. Connor
A senior biology major from Lewisville, Texas, Jade Connor learned in March that she had been selected to receive a Fulbright study grant, which will enable her to pursue a master’s degree in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
“I am extremely honored and excited to be named a Fulbright Scholar,” Connor said. “This program does not simply teach students about public health but gives them the tools to make decisions about a variety of public health disciplines and implement programs that can transcend geographic borders and demographic differences.”
After earning her master’s degree, Connor will return to the United States to begin medical school with an ultimate goal of improving the lives of patients with dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease.
“The Netherlands has many innovative national programs for citizens with dementia, and I believe that I can learn a great deal from the Dutch approach to care for patients with dementia through public health measures,” Connor said. “In my career, I hope to effect change outside of my own practice by creating public health programs for these patients that can be implemented among the multitude of ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses and cultures in the United States.”
Connor is both a William Hillis Scholar in Biomedical Sciences and a Carr P. Collins Scholar at Baylor. The Hillis Scholars program provides research experiences and enhanced mentoring and learning opportunities for high-achieving undergraduate prehealth students that prepares them for top graduate programs and medical schools. The Collins Scholars program recognizes and rewards students who demonstrate leadership through service.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to spend a year not only diving deep into the subjects of public health and health policy, but learning from the Dutch people and culture,” Connor said.
Emily Martin
Emily Martin saw the door to her future opening up as she read a very special email in mid-April. “I found out I was selected for the Fulbright on the front porch of Memorial.” Martin said. “I was about to go to the library to work on my thesis, and I saw I had three new emails. Right there, two emails down, was an email from the Fulbright. ‘I am delighted to inform you…’ I called my mom right away. I don’t think I’ve smiled so wide in my entire life.”
A senior University Scholar from Frisco, Texas, Martin was selected to receive a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, which will allow her to spend the 2017- 2018 academic year teaching English in Germany.
The Fulbright had been on Martin’s mind since her freshman year, with possible career plans as a diplomat with a focus on Russia. However, during her sophomore year, she started learning German and went on a semester exchange to the University of Freiburg in the southwest part of Germany. “Living in Germany for five months, I fell in love with the people and the way of life. I volunteered at a local high school teaching English, and I’m excited to do it again.” she said.
Martin will serve as part of the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs, which places Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to the local English teachers. ETAs help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the United States. She hasn’t learned to which city she will be assigned, but she has asked for a city in northeast Germany.
“I sure loved the sunny foothills of the Black Forest, but I’m hoping to broaden my experience through living in the more reserved former Eastern Bloc,” she said. After the Fulbright, Martin is considering high school teacher certification but would like eventually to pursue her Ph.D. to teach German and Russian at the university level.
Taylor Demons
Recent Baylor graduate Taylor Demons, who earned a B.A. in international studies magna cum laude in December 2016, learned in late April that she had been selected to receive a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Taiwan. Demons, who aspires to a career as a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State, will serve her Fulbright year in Yilan in northeastern Taiwan as part of the ETA program.
She first became interested in applying for a Fulbright after studying abroad in China and then spending a summer interning for the State Department in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs. The Office of Taiwanese Affairs is located in the same office area, and she befriended the Taiwanese intern, who had just returned from her Fulbright in Taiwan.
“One of the most fascinating aspects of Chinese history has been the split between the Chinese government and Taiwan. I’ve always studied everything from a Chinese perspective, and I haven’t really addressed it from a Taiwanese perspective. I think an ETA in Taiwan would be an excellent complement to what I’ve learned thus far,” Demons said. “Reading a textbook and getting it straight from the mouth of someone who lives there are different.”
Since graduating a semester early, Demons knew she wanted to maximize her time between undergraduate and graduate school, including an opportunity to go abroad, explore and use her language skills in Mandarin, which is spoken in Taiwan. The Fulbright seemed the logical avenue as she prepares for a Foreign Service career.
Following the Fulbright, she plans to attend graduate school with the possible help of a Pickering or Rangel fellowship, both of which require fellows who complete the program to enter the Foreign Service for a minimum of five years. “Once you finish graduate school and you pass the Foreign Service exam, you’re obligated to five or more years in the State Department, which is my dream career. I hope to stay there forever,” Demons said.