By DORIAN SERRA

Accepted Beloit College applicants for the Fulbright Program were celebrated this past Wednesday, November 1 in the Powerhouse’s Marcia Bristo Keep for all of their hard work, dedication, and accomplishments.

The mid-day event was hosted by our own Global Experience Office, or GEO. It served as a setting in which those students who had been accepted here at Beloit had a moment to relax and be appreciated for all of the hard work they have put into pursuing this opportunity so far.

The Fulbright Program allows graduating students to work or study abroad immediately following college. Those working will act as English Teaching Assistants, or ETAs.

Of our students, one has opted to pursue the brand new continued education path. Farah Tolu-Honary ‘24 has set her eyes on the University of Grenoble in France. She aims to continue her studies in political science, particularly focusing on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern politics. As with all Fulbrights, she will be immersing herself in another language, taking some courses in French. If she is able to go, every expense is covered, from transportation to tuition.

While this program has no studying abroad prerequisites, Farah has done her fair share abroad already. She believes that it has been tremendously beneficial as all abroad experiences are, but also as it has prepared her to be a Fulbrighter. “I don’t think I would consider applying if I hadn’t gone abroad,” she says of her own experience, “abroad is what prepared me to do the Fulbright.”

Grace Gilmore ‘24 has been accepted but has not herself studied abroad. She has shared that it is both exciting and scary, but she and every other applicant will have the assistance and support of their host country and community. As with all alumni, she will also have the support system that is Beloit College as well. Going to Taiwan, Grace wants to improve her language skills, both by being an ETA and by physically immersing herself in the language and location.

Ariana Tolu-Honary ‘24 was accepted and plans to travel to Tajikistan to be an ETA. She felt that the application process was rather rigorous, but that it was most certainly worth it, a sentiment generally shared across the board. She and her sister Farah have been travel-oriented in their studies and knew of the program through their connections to the Global Experience Office.

Others such as Alexis Ross ‘24 found about it only in passing conversation following a Global Experience Seminar. Planning to travel to Malawi, she shared some of her experiences in applying. “It was a very extensive process,” the application was very detail-oriented and included multiple finely tuned essays as well as interviews with panels of Beloit College faculty and staff. She had assistance from the Student Excellence and Learning program, or SEL, and was enjoying the celebration with its director Maria Scarpaci.

Scarpaci was proud to share that three of the accepted applicants were of the 110 SEL members, a proportionally high number. She was a member of the interviewing panels and was keen on connecting her own program with that of the Fulbright and GEO programs. It also gave her an opportunity to observe how her program might continue to, and improve upon, assisting students in their post graduate lives.

Along with Scarpaci, many other faculty and staff attended. Whether  this was as they were involved in the process, or because they assisted students be it with letters of recommendation or otherwise, they all joined together to celebrate over cake, coffee, and hot cider. Speaker and Associate Director of Global and Immersive Learning Julianne Angeli illuminated the application process further. She says that “it is highly competitive, and the path is not over.”

These students being celebrated were accepted by Beloit College, but must now be accepted by the nationwide Fulbright board, and then subsequently by their host countries and institutions. Fortunately, they have done the majority of the work required of them. While they still have future interviews, they can take pride in having completed so much work already.

Applicants were expected to submit their work to the college by mid September, though the national deadline is mid October. Based on all of the moving parts involved, Angeli recommends that those interested begin working in the Spring semester of their Junior year.

The first step of external acceptance is in January from the US board, and following this, finalized host country acceptance comes any time in the Spring months of March, April, or May. She urges all students who are interested to contact her and her office for more information on these excellent opportunities.

Featured Image Credit: Dorian Serra’25