UNG students are named Fulbright semifinalists

13 University of North Georgia students and alumni moved one step closer to their goal of taking part in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program as they earned recognition as Fulbright semifinalists for the 2022-23 academic year. Finalists will be announced later this semester.

Eight are semifinalists to be English teaching assistants, four for master’s degree programs, and one for a research award. UNG had 22 students and alumni apply for the Fulbright.

“We are thrilled to see not only a wide range of students, majors and campuses represented, but also the full complement of Fulbright awards represented,” Dr. Anastasia Lin, assistant vice president of research and director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships (NCS) office, said.

UNG’s 2022 semifinalists are Anna Caitlyn “AC” Anderson, Madison Bunch, Rebecca Corley, Juleah Edwards, Zdenka Janderova, Charlotte Kloster, Ketsia Malala, Ashlynn Nash, Kirsten Picklesimer, Roderick Selman, Daniel Shearer, Colin Tredway, and Brianna Welch. More details are available in a full listing. Tredway was an alternate a year ago, and Nash and Selman are semifinalists for the second year in a row.

Bunch, a senior from Senoia, Georgia, pursuing a degree in biology, is aiming to earn a Fulbright research award to study in Poland.

“This would open so many more doors for me because I’m trying to go to graduate school for microbiology,” Bunch said. “It would help me learn different techniques and increase my ability to communicate about research.”

Janderova, a senior from Braselton, Georgia, pursuing a degree in biology, applied to be an English teaching assistant in Germany.

She is hoping the third time is the charm for her opportunity to take part in an international education experience. Previously, she won a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, but opportunities to use it at the Goethe-Institut Berlin and an internship in Germany were both canceled due to COVID-19.

“I still really wanted to go abroad and expand my speaking and comprehension skills and be surrounded by a different culture,” Janderova said.

Tredway, a summer 2020 graduate with a degree in history, said coming so close a year earlier motivated him to apply again to be an English teaching assistant in Germany. A former Center for Language Education tour guide who earned his Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate from UNG, he is grateful for the NCS office.

“They have been fantastic,” he said. “They have helped me every step of the way.”

The Fulbright program enables graduates to pursue research activities, become English teaching assistants, or enroll in graduate school in other countries. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and residents of more than 160 foreign countries, according to the Fulbright website.

In addition to the Fulbright semifinalists, UNG senior Maggie Simmons is one of the semifinalists for the Critical Language Scholarship, which funds American undergraduate and graduate students to complete intensive language study abroad in the summer. She aims to study in Taiwan. The Snellville, Georgia, resident is pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Chinese for global professionals and is a member of UNG’s Chinese Language Flagship.

Students interested in learning more about nationally competitive scholarships should contact ncs@ung.edu for more information.

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