Senior McKayle Carter, originally named an alternate for a Fulbright Scholarship, has now been awarded an English Teaching Assistant Award to Bavaria, Germany.
“We now officially have a record year with four Fulbright Award winners as McKayle Carter has now been offered an award,” exclaimed Dr. Jonathan Steinwand, professor of English. “Nationally, around 20% of applicants are funded. This year at Concordia, 66% of our applicants were funded.”
Concordia had six applicants for the 2019-20 Fulbright Awards.
Carter was named an alternate when Toby Kindem, Alexandra Rankin and Hannah Allen recently received their Fulbright awards. At the time, it was noted that while not currently selected as a principal candidate, Carter’s selection as an alternate offered the chance of promotion to finalist.
Shortly thereafter, Carter was indeed promoted to finalist.
“It’s a huge honor to be selected and I am so humbled to have the privilege to be a part of the Fulbright program,” Carter said. “I’ve wanted to apply for a Fulbright since I found out about the program my freshman year. Having spent a year in Germany my sophomore year, I’ve seen how valuable it is to learn about cultures that are different from our own. It was such an eye-opening experience for me that drastically changed my perception of the world.”
While in Germany, Carter is encouraged to engage in the community through volunteering and various types of involvement, and she plans to do so. She also expects to attend meetings and conferences with other Fulbright recipients and possibly government officials.
“I’m excited to have another opportunity to work on my German language skills, as well as to educate students on the importance of cultural awareness and diversity,” she added.
Every year, there are approximately 10,000 applicants for 2,000 awards worldwide in all fields of study and in over 140 countries. More than 380,000 Fulbrighters from the U.S. and other countries have participated in the program since it was established in 1946.
For information about the other three Fulbright award winners, see Fulbright Selects Concordia Students.