A total of six graduating Hope College seniors have received recognition through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Andrew Harrison of Wayzata, Minnesota, has received a research award, and Emma Ropski of Park Ridge, Illinois, and Hania (Hanna) Szymczak of Southfield have each received English teaching assistantships.
Cameron Fox of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been named an alternate for an English teaching assistantship.
Andrea Antenan of Springfield, Illinois, and Emily Oliver of Springfield, Virginia, have both been recognized as semi-finalists for a research award and English teaching assistantship respectively.
Since 2008, a total of 27 Hope students or recent graduates have received awards; in addition, several others have been named alternates or semifinalists. Hope’s student Fulbright applicants are mentored in the process by Dr. David Cunningham, who is a professor of religion at Hope as well as director of the college’s CrossRoads Project and David J. Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing; and Dr. Janis Gibbs, associate professor of history.
All of this year’s six students, who represent a range of majors, participated in study-abroad programs during their time at Hope.
Harrison will spend the coming academic year in Denmark, where he and a mentor at the Technical University of Denmark will be conducting research on the public acceptance of wind energy, specifically concerning the issue of turbine noise. He will also be taking introductory sustainability, organization and quantitative decision-making master’s-level classes in the university’s Engineering Management Department. A chemistry and engineering dual major, Harrison conducted research as a freshman with Dr. Jonathan Peterson, who is the Lavern '39 and Betty DePree '41 Van Kley Professor of Geology and Environmental Science at Hope, and is currently conducting research with Dr. Tom Guarr and Hope faculty member Dr. Michael Seymour, professor of chemistry, at the Michigan State Bioeconomy Institute. He participated in the college’s Vienna Summer School in 2015.
Ropski will be teaching English in South Korea from the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2017. A psychology and sociology dual major, she spent the fall 2015 studying in Barcelona, Spain, through the IES (Institute of European Studies) Liberal Arts and Business Program.
Szymczak will be teaching English in Germany from the fall of 2016 through the spring of 2017. A leadership and performing arts composite and German language dual major, she spent the summer and fall of 2015 studying abroad at Hyderabad Central University in Hyderabad, India. In addition, she was raised for 17 years in Wroclaw, Poland, and is a dual citizen of both Poland and the United States.
Fox is an alternate for an English teaching assistantship to Malta that would involve assisting permanent teaching staff in primary and secondary schools. He is a social studies group elementary education major, and is student teaching this semester. Last summer he participated in the college’s June study-abroad program in Liverpool, England, which is for students in Hope’s teacher-preparation program.
Antenan was a semifinalist for a research award for study in Scotland. She is majoring in classical studies and religion with an emphasis on Christian history and theology. She spent the fall 2015 semester studying abroad at Wycliffe Hall at the University of Oxford in England.
Oliver was a semifinalist for an English teaching assistantship in South Korea. She is majoring in English with a writing emphasis and Japanese studies, and minoring in studio art and Asian studies. She spent the spring 2015 semester studying in abroad in Japan.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards approximately 1,600 grants annually to U.S. students, and operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 310,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.