Alumni Leave Their Mark Around the World Through the Fulbright
Last year, Salisbury University past and present made history when they earned prestigious U.S. Fulbright Student Awards. It was SU’s best year ever for the award, and the University has since been named the nation’s No. 1 producer of Fulbright Students in its classification by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Since then, six SU alumni have traveled across the globe for a life-changing opportunity to connect with students through English Teaching Assistantships (ETA), and conduct research that could positively affect cancer diagnoses and wildlife conservation. From Brazil to Madagascar to Slovakia, these alumni are leaving their mark on the world.
Opening Doors in Poland
As an SU student, Melanie Staszewski ’22 was involved not only in undergraduate research, but also was president of the Medical Careers Society and co-founded the Comedy Gulls improv club. She didn’t realize at the time how her SU experiences would shape her as a person – but now, she sees how each opportunity opened doors for her future.
“I am so grateful I had a surplus of opportunities to get involved in at SU,” Staszewski said. “They have directly translated to what I’m doing in Poland.”
As part of her Fulbright, Staszewski is conducting research on how methylation changes may be associated with breast cancer development. Outside of research, her favorite part of the experience has been getting involved in the community. She has been actively engaged with elementary and high schools, talking to Polish students about opportunities to study in the U.S. and running events like a “Women in STEM” short essay contest.
After her Fulbright ends, Staszewski will take on a new challenge. She has a post-baccalaureate fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where she will conduct research on pediatric-onset neuropsychiatric disorders to help improve disease prediction and treatment.
Photo credit: Anna Liminowicz, Fulbright Poland
Finding “Home” in Slovakia
While at SU, Nathaniel Sansom ’21 (right) took advantage of every opportunity that came his way. That hasn’t changed, even after he has graduated and embarked to Slovakia for his Fulbright.
Sansom’s educational journey has taken him across the globe – from interning at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris as a sophomore to studying in Poland through a Boren Award as a junior.
“Returning to Central Europe has felt like coming back home,” Sansom said. “This part of the world will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Now, he is teaching English in the city of Rožňava in Eastern Slovakia. He has contributed to local efforts beyond the classroom, being actively engaged in a conversation club and tutoring a Ukrainian student whose family was displaced by the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Although he has mixed emotions about leaving the city he has come to think of as “home,” Sansom is looking forward to pursuing his Juris Doctor at George Washington University Law when he returns to the U.S. For now, whether he is teaching English to Slovakian students, hiking, visiting castles or cheering for the regional hockey team, he wakes up every morning with one goal: to make the most of the opportunity.
Exploring Languages, Cultures and Herself in Peru
Kimberly Arriaga-Gonzalez ’21 has come to understand the beauty of languages.
As an SU student, she was involved in a summer research project that helped her get in touch with her Mesoamerican heritage. Together with her research partner and their faculty mentor, she created six children’s stories based on Mayan and Nahua lore.
“When I was younger, I remember not hearing the stories of my Nahua culture,” Arriaga-Gonzalez said. “There was a sense of shame growing up in not finding myself anywhere in the curriculum.”
She hoped the stories she created would serve as an empowering tool for children like her – but it was also an empowering tool for herself.
Now, she is using her Fulbright opportunity to share the beauty of languages and cultures with her students in Peru. She hopes that her experience as a Fulbright ETA will help her provide Peruvian communities with tools to support their English language acquisition, while also learning to use their native language as one of expression and sincerity.
This cultural exchange has been important to her as she looks forward to pursuing a graduate degree in philosophy with a focus on indigenous studies. A storyteller at heart, she wants to further examine the impact not telling certain stories has on our understanding of culture.
“Over the past year, I have realized my strong adoration for words can be a sanctuary when life leads to unexpected places,” she said.
Discovering New Possibilities in Czech Republic
Kylie Webb ’22 hopes to one day have a career as a pediatric prosthetist – and with each new experience, she takes another step toward that goal.
While she may not have realized an opportunity like the Fulbright would further her career, she is creating new memories and connections every day that are shaping her future. Webb is teaching English in Czech Republic, which has been an incredible adventure and a learning opportunity for her. She says connecting with the Czech people is what makes the experience so special.
“The whole point of Fulbright is cultural exchange,” Webb said. “That is something that has been so rewarding.”
The Fulbright allows Webb to share her American culture while learning more about her family’s national origins from her Czech students. She is learning how to connect with people of various backgrounds, which will give her new perspectives as she prepares to pursue her master’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Gaining Confidence for Her Future
When Aida Dodoo ’22 (right) came to SU, she had no idea what she wanted to do with her future. Without something to aim for, her academics suffered. All that changed when she attended an information session from SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office and learned about opportunities like the Fulbright.
Finally, she had a goal to strive towards. She is living her life to the fullest in Madagascar, where she is studying Arabic, teaching English to her students and creating a community to help lift others up – just like her mentors at SU did for her.
“Fellowships like this completely turned around my academic career and helped guide me to the future I want,” Dodoo said. “The faculty and staff at SU put in so much work, purely because they believed in me and saw my potential – and they did not stop until I realized it.”
For Dodoo, every day in Madagascar is a new opportunity. Her adventures have kept her busy, from helping her students apply to academic institutions in the U.S. to creating Blossom: A Malagasy Girls Club, which provides a safe space for girls to talk about societal issues and plan their futures.
She hopes the Fulbright will give her the skills and confidence to further her career, as she looks forward to applying for jobs and graduate schools.
“The Fulbright has given me a unique outlook and long-lasting connections for my future,” Dodoo said. “Opportunities like this give me hope and self-confidence in what I can achieve.”
Helping Make a Difference
Since he got involved in research at SU, Christian Ciattei ’22 (left) has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Barry Goldwater and DAAD-RISE scholarships, and now the Fulbright.
There is one thing that motivates him to keep seeking out new opportunities: More than anything, he wants to make a difference.
The research Ciattei started as an SU student focuses on bearded capuchin monkeys in Brazil, which face a new threat from an influx of tourism. The Fulbright has taken his research into the field at Brazil’s Carlos Botelho State Park and Una Biological Reserve, to determine how human activity has affected the primates.
“Christian’s research is urgent because primate species are threatened with extinction globally,” said Dr. Andrea Presotto, his faculty mentor. “He is among the young scholars who might be one of the last to see primates in the wild.”
Ciattei is hoping for a better future. He has continued his research with the hope to be part of conservation efforts.
“Through the opportunities I received at SU, I have set myself up to make a real difference,” Ciattei said. “I don’t think I would have had an opportunity like this without the mentorship and interdisciplinary education I got there.”