2018-2019 Recipients

For eight weeks over the summer of 2019, Hikmah will be doing Neurochemical research at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. As a neuroscience and Asian studies double major, Hikmah hopes to find a balance between her love for the Japanese language and her passion for research and hopes to build connections with professors and students whom she can refer back to after Bowdoin. Alongside research, she plans to take full advantage of her stay in Kyoto by immersing in the culture and the language. She also plans on studying at Nanzen University in Nagoya, Japan during her junior year.

Tim graduated Bowdoin with majors in German and government & legal studies. He was a Head RA on Bowdoin's ResLife staff and a teaching assistant for the German department. Having studied abroad in Dresden, Germany during his junior year, Tim is excited to spend the 2019-2020 academic year living in Linz while teaching high school English in Sankt Florian, Austria. He hopes that his experience abroad will prepare him to pursue a career in education when he returns to the United States.

Stef graduated from Bowdoin with a double major in German and mathematics. As an ETA in Austria, she will spend an academic year teaching English to high school students at the Europagymnasium in Klagenfurt, while immersing herself in Austrian culture and the German language. Stef will draw upon her previous teaching experiences as a TA for Bowdoin's mathematics and German departments to help her in fostering a positive and enriching academic environment for her students. Alongside her academic endeavors, Stef was an active member of Bowdoin's Track and Field team. After Austria, she plans to continue to pursue a career in Actuarial Science.

Joe will be spending two months over the summer intensively studying Arabic in Meknes on the CLS program. Having spent the fall semester of his junior year on a Boren Scholarship at the Middlebury School Abroad in Rabat, Joe is thrilled to be returning to Morocco. At Bowdoin, Joe has studied Arabic for the last three years and founded Bowdoin's first Arabic Club in the spring of 2019. A history major and math minor, Joe plans to combine his love of languages, culture, and data to help improve efficiencies in international humanitarian responses by drawing on the recent experiences of regions like North Africa.

As a recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship, Isabel will continue her study of Hindi at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Jaipur, India. Isabel was a double major in government and legal studies and Asian studies with a focus on South Asia. During her time at Bowdoin, she was a Boren Scholar in Jaipur, India, a Department of Defense funded program to advance U.S. interests in national security through the study of foreign language and culture. She was also a Bowdoin Public Service Fellow, and interned at the State Department in the Office of Pakistan Affairs. She looks forward to improving her language skills, and plans to pursue a career in public service and foreign relations. 

Having completed a coordinate major in history and education and an Asian studies minor, Nathan will travel to Kaohsiung, Taiwan to serve as an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright program in 2019. He spent the past three summers as a middle school teacher and hopes to hone his teaching skills through this cross-cultural experience. His experiences abroad studying Denmark's education system and his aspiration to become better acquainted with Taiwan all feed into Nathan's aspirations to be a globally minded educator. Nathan will take the knowledge he has gained from teaching in Taiwan back home to teach in Memphis.

Sina, a mathematics major and computer science minor, will be an ETA in Madrid, Spain during the 2019-2020 school year. During his semester studying in Europe he spent his spring break in Spain, where he rediscovered a love of Spanish language and culture prompting him to study Spanish his last two semesters at Bowdoin. Sina plans to teach English while engaging his Spanish high schoolers with an initiative to teach the basics of coding who could use the programming skills as a vehicle to navigate the high unemployment in Spain currently. Upon returning to the U.S. Sina hopes to attend graduate school for computer science.

Having pursued majors in art history and German, Daniel will undertake an ETA in Germany. Daniel is looking forward to giving back what knowledge he has gained at Bowdoin, having begun already as a teaching assistant in multiple departments at Bowdoin. Experiences studying German language and culture at Bowdoin and in Munich have prepared him to engage in and outside of the classroom, and his ETA placement in Berlin offers the opportunity to continue immersing himself in the arts in the nation's cultural capital.

As an art history and biology major at Bowdoin, Eleanor received the Harpswell Fellowship to teach English to female university students in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Now, as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Thailand, Eleanor will employ her teaching methods to build another engaging classroom founded on independence and curiosity. She also hopes to explore opportunities with medically focused community organizations and, having been a track athlete for the past ten years, will pursue a role as an athletic coach to build teamwork, leadership, and communication outside the classroom.

A government and legal studies major, Sandro developed his passion for teaching while working at an NGO in Athens, Greece with unaccompanied refugee minors. There he wrote a 14 week English course and established a volunteer program with his study abroad program. At Bowdoin, Sandro volunteered at one of the Portland Housing Authority's study centers and at Let's Get Ready as an SAT tutor. Sandro will spend next year teaching English at the Petr Bogdan Foreign Language School in Montana, Bulgaria where he will continue his work with refugees at a Bulgarian NGO and get to know the city. Outside of the classroom, he is looking forward to coaching the debate team and launching his Twitch stream.

At Bowdoin, Camille majored in psychology and visual art, with a focus on how these two fields intersect in studying culture. Camille focused her studies at Bowdoin, and abroad in Brisbane, Australia, on how art is a critical tool used to uncover the historical and cultural significance of any place as well as empower women. As an English teaching assistant in the Azores Islands of Portugal, she is excited to teach in a university while also being involved in advising students about studying abroad in America. Originally from Miami, she is also looking forward to spending time volunteering with an organization dedicated to community art practices.

A government and hispanic studies major, Nell will spend the 2019-2020 year in Mexico as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Her love of teaching stems from time as a camp counselor, tutoring and working in Brunswick classrooms over the past several years. She spent the fall of her junior year abroad in Spain, developing her Spanish language skills. Nell has a deep love of politics, and is excited for the opportunity to live in Mexico in its current, unique political climate. Nell has spent all of her free time at Bowdoin working for the Orient, developing a keen curiosity and love of writing, which she hopes to continue in Mexico.

Kathleen graduated from Bowdoin with a Hispanic studies and Africana studies double major and theater minor. Throughout her studies she has explored how language and performance contribute to self-expression and communication. Studying in Cuba during her junior year also brought to life for her the importance of communication between cultures. As an ETA in Mexico, she will apply that experience in her role as an English teacher and cultural ambassador for the United States. She also plans to start after-school theater workshops. After returning to the U.S. she will pursue a career in youth performance arts education.

At Bowdoin, Colby was a neuroscience major and Francophone studies minor, who also completed the pre-medical track and was a four-year member of the baseball team. He received a Fulbright award to teach English in Kinmen, Taiwan during the 2019-2020 academic year. Colby developed an interest in working with children through an internship at the Bowdoin Children's Center, and through mentoring while at Bowdoin. He hopes to volunteer as a baseball coach in Taiwan, and to expand upon English teaching opportunities outside of the classroom. Colby plans to volunteer in the healthcare field during his time in Taiwan, and will apply to medical school upon his return to the United States.

Swapnika graduated Bowdoin with a double major in biology and sociology. Her passion for working with children stems from her experiences as a literacy tutor in high school. She continued tutoring at Bowdoin, working with America Reads and Counts and leading an Alternative Spring Break trip to the Passamaquoddy Reservation. She also worked internationally as a full-time English teacher at a trust school in South India and as a research analyst in Bangladesh with a nonprofit, Partners for World Health. As a Fulbright ETA in Malaysia, Swapnika is thrilled to continue bringing awareness to disparities in education and healthcare by exchanging language, knowledge, and culture.

At Bowdoin, Miranda majored in environmental studies and romance languages and literatures. She enjoyed sharing her passion for languages as a French teaching assistant. As a senior, her studies of urban planning and romance languages led her to pursue an honors thesis on modern architecture in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. She is thrilled to return to Brazil as a Fulbright ETA to deepen her understanding of Brazilian culture, explore Brazilian approaches to environmental issues, and perfect her Portuguese. A passionate violinist, she also looks forward to engaging with the community by studying Brazil's rich musical traditions.

In addition to completing an English and education major, Julia took many Asian studies courses at Bowdoin. Through her education major and work in a number of admissions jobs, Julia became passionate about issues related to college access. In South Korea, she will teach English and assist students with the college preparation process. Julia is also looking forward to developing after school activities for her students and further exploring Korean literature. Upon return, Julia hopes to apply what she has learned in South Korea to a career related to admissions and college access.

Sydney is a double major in English and philosophy and a founding co-editor of The Foundationalist, an intercollegiate literature journal. In his junior year he won the Beinecke Fellowship, which provides support for future graduate school endeavors, in recognition of his intellectual leadership. He spent his senior year working on an honors project about transpacific Vietnamese literature, and after graduating, he will be teaching English in Vietnam on a Fulbright. Upon his return, he hopes to do translation work on Vietnamese texts and attend a graduate program for English literature.

At Bowdoin, Michael completed a coordinate major in biochemistry and education. He conducted science education research looking at effective relationships between student teachers and their mentor teachers. Last summer, he found his passion for teaching while co-teaching and designing curriculum for a river ecology course in Hartford, Connecticut. Michael is particularly interested in the intersection of health and education. He will spend next year teaching English to high school students in Indonesia before pursuing dental school. In Indonesia, he hopes to connect his interests of teaching and health to learn more about the local community, the people, and their practices.

Evan is a government & legal studies and Hispanic studies double major with a computer science minor. As a writing assistant and Spanish tutor at Bowdoin, he grew to love supporting people developing their native and foreign language skills. This passion, along with an enriching semester abroad, inspired him to return to Argentina with a Fulbright ETA. In addition to his English teaching duties, Evan will investigate the interplay between Argentina's immigration and education policies, as well as offer digital literacy classes to the local community. He hopes that teaching abroad and the findings of his research project will propel him towards a career in comparative international education.

Graduating in 2019 with a major in history, Phoebe received a Fulbright grant to work as an English Teaching Assistant in Israel. While at Bowdoin, she worked as a writing assistant and spent the fall of her junior year abroad in London, England. She hopes to bring her tutoring experience and passion for language learning to her work teaching English to college students in Jerusalem. While in Israel, Phoebe will also be learning Hebrew and, through her students, hopes to gain a better understanding of how Hebrew, Arabic, and English interact in Israeli society today. After Fulbright, she plans to pursue graduate studies in history.

A government and legal studies major, Liam will study post-conflict cancer patient experiences at the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in Jordan. His project inspiration came from research on state sovereignty and emergency medical interventions along the Syrian border that he began while abroad in Amman. After graduating from Bowdoin in 2018, Liam was a CLS participant in Morocco, a consultant for Palestinian human-centered technology company, Souktel, and the Lead Stakeholder Mapping Consultant for Search for Common Ground's DRL-funded peacebuilding initiatives in Iraq. Liam is both excited to learn techniques from Jordanian music and cuisine, and launch a career in conflict resolution and global health.

Emlyn is an Asian studies major and psychology minor. Her experience with Bowdoin's Japanese FLY program inspired her to consider teaching abroad. Studying in Tokyo for a semester solidified her intentions. She will be teaching English in Japan next year.

An Asian studies major with study abroad experiences in Japan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, Gerlin is excited to return to Japan as a Coordinator for International Relations working for the Japanese government. She looks forward to improving her Japanese, which she first started learning at Bowdoin, as well as continuing her journey toward becoming a polyglot. She hopes to gain a deeper understanding of the immigrant community and language conservation. Although Gerlin is unsure of her future plans, she is keen to take this opportunity to learn to take better pictures and cook better noodles in preparation for her future photography cafe.

Valeria is graduating with a major in Asian studies and a minor in chemistry. Valeria studied Japanese language and culture through various history and literature classes. She spent a semester in Japan taking Japanese language courses and living with a host family. She is excited to teach English in Japan and serve as a cross-cultural ambassador. Outside of the classroom, she hopes to engage in cultural community building activities and participate in volunteer work. While in Japan she also hopes to learn a traditional art form. After her time with JET, Valeria plans to pursue a medical degree.

A political theory and classical studies major and economics minor from Edgemont, New York, Sam will continue studying political thought and intellectual history in an MPhil program at the University of Cambridge as a Keasbey Scholar. After Cambridge, Sam hopes to attend law school and become a federal prosecutor. At Bowdoin, Sam was the president of the Peucinian Society and taught Latin to elementary school students at Harriet Beecher Stowe with the Aequora program.

After graduating from Bowdoin in 2017, Olivia returned in 2018 to complete Bowdoin Teacher Scholars where she became certified to teach physical science, and this year she has been teaching 9th grade earth science in Portland, ME. The Knowles Fellowship is designed for new STEM teachers to help them improve their professional knowledge, classroom, and the greater landscape of science education. She plans to use the fellowship to focus on equity issues and STEM, start new electives at her high school, and create meaningful professional development opportunities for science teachers in Portland.

Zoe is an Earth and oceanographic science and biochemistry double major, particularly interested in the biogeochemistry and microbiology of phytoplankton (tiny ocean-dwelling organisms). As a recipient of the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship, she will receive $9,500 toward each of two years of full-time study and complete a 10-week, paid internship at a NOAA facility the summer before her senior year. She's thrilled to delve into new subfields of oceanography after focusing on microbiology through summer work at Bowdoin and Georgia Tech. Zoe plans to attend graduate school to earn a PhD in biological or chemical oceanography.

Danielle grew up in New York City watching the boats and birds of the Hudson River Estuary from the shores of Manhattan, which inspired a fascination with the interplay between humans and the non-human environment. At Bowdoin, she explored this interest through the lens of chemistry and completed an honors project in Dharni Vasudevan's environmental chemistry lab. After working as a lab instructor at Bowdoin, she will now move on to work as a graduate student at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, where she will study the chemical fate of compounds release by oil spills.

Anna graduated from Bowdoin in 2017 with a major in biochemistry and math. She discovered her passion for organic chemistry during her sophomore year, and subsequently participated in two summer REU programs, at Vanderbilt in 2015 and at Boston University in 2016. While completing an honors thesis with Professor Broene in organometallic chemistry, she made the decision to go to graduate school at Emory University. As a member of the Wuest group, she is working on the synthesis of natural products and analogs thereof in order to develop narrow spectrum antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action.

Hannah graduated from Bowdoin College with a major in Earth and oceanographic sciences and environmental studies, completing her honors thesis in the lab of Michelle LaVigne. After graduating, Hannah completed a year of research in Lausanne, Switzerland on a Fulbright Research grant studying ecosystem succession in glacial forefields. She is now currently working at Boulder Nordic Sport and in a geochronology lab in Boulder, CO. This fall she will be starting a PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder in the environmental studies department investigating biogeochemical processes in alpine environments.

Sam graduated in 2018 with a coordinate major in biology and environmental studies and completed a thesis in Professor Dave Carlon's lab. Sam has conducted research along the Maine coast, Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island, and in Wellfleet Harbor as a summer fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He looks forward to moving to California where he will begin a PhD in ecology at UC Davis, studying marine biogeography.

Lucy, a native of Hunan, China, graduated summa cum laude in 2016 with High Honors in Political Philosophy, a second major in Mathematics, and a minor in Computer Science. Lucy became passionate about international development, and particularly about funding issues and private-public partnerships, through her volunteer experience in Longshan Village in China, as well as her experiences in making resource allocation decisions in both public and private sectors. She interned for Bowdoin's endowment, was the student representative on the Financial Planning Committee, participated in the Common Good Grant program, and was a macro research analyst at Bank of America for three years following graduation. As a PiAf fellow, she will apply her prior experiences with funding and markets to help the African Leadership Academy build an endowment and become more financially sustainable.

A neuroscience major and education minor, Kay is interested in mental healthcare, disability, and working with children. At Bowdoin, she was a leader of Bear Buddies, a mentoring program connecting college students with local youth with disabilities, and led an Alternative Spring Break trip focused on disability and ableism. Kay is very excited to spend next year in Jaipur, India, teaching English through the topics of psychology, neuroscience and mental wellness. She also looks forward to meeting and working alongside local co-teachers and immersing herself in the community outside of the classroom.

Praise is a sociology and education coordinate major passionate about increasing educational opportunities for marginalized populations, particularly low-income students of color. Praise is interested in the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and social inequity as determining factors in the quality of one's education. Currently, Praise serves as a co-leader of Next Steps, a club that teaches high schoolers about the college application process by hosting informal presentations and connecting with staff. Continuing on the path of educational justice, Praise plans to pursue a master's degree in education and social policy and Ph.D. in public administration.

Marie Caspard is a biology & environmental studies major. On campus, Marie is an ecorep for the sustainability office & is involved in a number of environmental clubs. She continued developing her passion for protecting the outdoors with summers working for the Maine Conservation Corps and the National Parks Service. She is particularly interested in finding ways to make positive impacts on her community's relationship with their natural environment by building a deeper sense of connection and responsibility. After graduating, she hopes to work in natural resource management, supporting scientifically well-informed policy based on consensus and compromise.

Anu is an aspiring medical professional, who majored in neuroscience and theater. While at Bowdoin, she performed in plays and conducted research in a neuronal regeneration lab. After her summer internship at Bellevue Emergency department, Anu recognized the role of human interactions as a form of therapy for patients. During her Watson year, she will examine how therapies based in performance arts can be used to overcome the silence and stigma surrounding social health issues including alcoholism, immigration, gender-based violence, and racial trauma. She will travel to Australia, South Africa, Uganda, and France to explore the unique performance cultures in each country.

A psychology and Italian studies double major from Brewer, Maine, Lexi is thrilled to travel the world on her Watson year. Lexi's long-standing interest in criminal justice was fueled throughout her time at Bowdoin, as she saw first-hand the flaws of the current system through volunteer work with Volunteer Lawyers Project and a local jail. Sparked by her experience working with mothers in an alternative incarceration program in Rome, Italy, her Watson year will consist of traveling to New Zealand, Japan, India, Israel, and Norway to learn about how cultural values of family impact criminal justice systems and personal definitions of justice.

A double major in sociology and Latin American studies, Brandon examined the intersections between healthcare and housing insecurity while at Bowdoin and while studying abroad in Argentina, ultimately completing an honors project on homelessness in Argentina. He also interacted with these issues through public service, as an interim social worker, alternative break leader, and EMT. As a Watson Fellow, Brandon will explore story-telling and street activism amongst peer-based communities, speaking with homeless artists in the UK, shelter residents in Denmark, indigenous Maori in New Zealand, soccer players in Chile, and refugees in Colombia. Upon returning, he hopes to attend graduate school for sociology or public health.