Alumna Receives Fullbright Award
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| Lauren Ostrowsk |
July 20, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The
United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign
Scholarship Board announced recently that Lauren Ostrowski has been
awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship. The 2005 Illinois
Wesleyan University graduate will teach English part-time at a secondary
school and continue her graduate studies at a local university in
Madrid.
Ostrowski, who graduated with a degree in English-writing
and Hispanic Studies, is one of more than 1,500 United States citizens
who will travel abroad for the 2010-2011 academic year through the
Fulbright U.S. Student Program. She will remain in Spain for nine and a
half months, or one full academic school year.
The Fulbright
Program, which operates in more than 155 countries, is the flagship
international educational exchange program sponsored by the United
States government and is designed to increase mutual understanding
between the people of the United States and the people of other
countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of
academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership
potential in their fields.
Ostrowski cites her previous
experiences abroad in Madrid and Mexico and her current work as an
Academic Project Manager at IES Abroad (a not-for-profit organization
that provides study abroad opportunities for United States university
students), as the main factors in her decision to apply for the
scholarship.
“Fulbright’s mission of international exchanges as a
means for education and understanding successfully combines my
professional and academic interests, my love of cultural and linguistic
exploration and my enthusiasm for the Spanish language and culture,”
said Ostrowski.
During her time in Madrid, Ostrowski plans to
organize a creative writing workshop for English language learners,
allowing them to form a sense of identity, expand their vocabularies and
articulate more freely in a second language.
“Creative writing in
a second language allows students to focus on utilizing the language as
a means for communication and expression rather than simply providing a
‘right’ answer,” said Ostrowski.
She plans to publish these
written pieces in a weekly pamphlet, literary magazine or class blog.
Jessica Hinterlong ‘11, (309) 556-3181