Hamilton College has been named a top producer of Fulbright students for the ’21-’22 competition cycle. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Hamilton is one of “nine baccalaureate institutions that have been top producers of Fulbright US students every year for the past 10 years.” Other institutions on this list include Amherst, Oberlin, Pitzer, Pomona, Smith, Swarthmore, Vassar and Williams.

During the ’21-’22 competition cycle, three current Hamilton students and three Hamilton alums have been named Fulbright Scholars. The current Hamilton students are Gianni Hill ’21, who received an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Madrid, Spain; Timothy (Tim) Derby ’21, who received an ETA to Madrid, Spain; and William Andriola ’21, who received an ETA to Bulgaria. Hill received a distinct grant at the Instituto de Empresa, which is an international university based in Madrid.

The three Hamilton alums are Loren Rodriguez ’20, who received an ETA to Spain; Cesar Guerrero ’20, who received an ETA to Germany; and Wynston Pennybacker ’18, who received an ETA to Ukraine.

Student Fellowships Coordinator Virginia (Ginny) Dosch thought that the number of Hamilton recipients who will be going to Spain is impressive. “We have three to Spain this year, which is pretty amazing because Spain is an extremely competitive country!” said Dosch.

As the Student Fellowships Coordinator, Dosch also serves as the Fulbright Program Advisor for Hamilton College. She works with Fulbright applicants from start to finish of the application process. This process includes exploring the types of programs and countries that are of interest to students and delving into their academic preparation, experiences and interests. To complete a strong application, students must create a “cohesive narrative” that makes a compelling case for why they want to pursue a Fulbright Grant. They present their academic and experiential foundation as demonstrated evidence of their preparation to teach, study, or conduct research, and explain how their Fulbright experience will tie to their future plans.

“I really want this to be a valuable process for students because it mirrors how they will approach similar pursuits in the future, including applying to graduate school and seeking employment. The process of reflection and making connections to what one does and why — is key. Students will continue to apply this approach throughout their lives and I hope that it’s a major takeaway that comes out of their [Fulbright application] experience. It’s a valuable part of the process,” said Dosch.

In her interview with

The Spectator

, Dosch noted that there are two primary types of Fulbright awards that students and alums can pursue. The first is the Fulbright ETA award,


which


“places grantees in schools overseas to supplement local English language instruction and to provide a native speaker presence in the classrooms”

(Fulbright)

. The second is the Fulbright Open Study/Research award,


which enables


recipients to “design their own projects and work with advisers at foreign universities or other institutes of higher education” (

Fulbright

). Fulbright Grants are open to students in all disciplines.

This year’s student grantees will bring significant experience to their positions abroad. There were several reasons that motivated Andriola to apply for a Fulbright grant.

“As a Russian studies minor, I was already interested in Eastern Europe before applying, but was not very familiar with Bulgaria. [Fulbright] seemed like an opportunity to engage with a culture that I had not really known that much about before…while helping students who have been stuck studying remotely all year learn English,” said Andriola.

Andriola was attracted to Bulgaria because the nature of the responsibilities aligned with his experiences and interests.

“I thought that my own skills would fit in really well with what they wanted. For example, one of the main components of the Bulgaria (ETA) program is coaching Bulgarian Speech and Debate Tournament (BEST) teams. After three years in Hamilton’s Debate Society, I feel very prepared to fulfill this role. I’ve also taken three semesters of Russian at Hamilton, which will both help me communicate with Bulgarians who speak Russian and make the process of learning Bulgarian itself easier. Additionally, Bulgaria itself was attractive to me as a country with a rich history and rich cultural traditions. Despite being the poorest country in the European Union and a former member of the Soviet Eastern bloc, Bulgaria’s commitment to education and international programs like Fulbright make me very hopeful about its future,” said Andriola.

Andriola has three primary responsibilities for his ETA. First, he will teach English to 8th through 12th graders at a Bulgarian secondary school for 20 hours a week, which includes leading in-person classes, creating lesson plans, grading work and helping students. Second, Andriola will be coaching BEST debate teams at the secondary school. BEST is a national tournament that was originally created by Fulbright ETAs. Finally, Andriola will participate in the local community as part of the cultural engagement component of the ETA.

Over the summer, Andriola will take an online course provided by the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission to learn Bulgarian. At his week-long orientation in Sept. 2021, there will also be some intensive language training. “Hopefully, since I know Russian and since there are a lot of similarities between the two languages, that’ll ease the process,” said Andriola.

Although Andriola is somewhat concerned about the possible impacts of COVID-19 on the program and adjusting to a new environment after leaving Hamilton, his excitement overshadows those nerves. “I think I’m most excited about exploring Bulgarian culture, meeting new people and generally engaging with the community as much as possible. I’m also excited about teaching itself and watching my students improve their language abilities over the semester,” said Andriola.

Hill also had many reasons for pursuing a Fulbright grant.

“I had heard about Fulbright since high school, but especially during freshman year here. I saw some of my senior friends applying for it and it just seemed like this amazing program where I could travel and learn a lot from somewhere new. With my particular interest in education reform, I thought that Fulbright would be a fantastic opportunity to go to another country that I already have some background in. I studied abroad in Spain during Spring 2020, which unfortunately got cut short due to COVID. However, during my abroad program, I got to learn about the education system in Spain, so I was intrigued to get back there and be able to compare those experiences with [the American education system]. Hopefully, I can bring those experiences back [to the U.S.] and incorporate them into my future work, since I want to go into education law,” said Hill.

Hill will play an integral role at the Instituto de Empresa (IE)’s writing center. Hill will work with students from Spain and other international students from all over the world, which will allow him to learn about a variety of education systems. Even though the majority of students and professors are multilingual, some of them need help with increasing their English fluency because IE’s classes are taught in English. This is where Hill’s role as an ETA comes in. At the writing center, Hill will assist with students’ writing assignments and professional documents, run workshops and classes and teach Conversational English classes to some of the faculty members.

For the cultural and community engagement portion of his ETA, Hill will work with senior citizens every week on a storytelling project. Hill envisions that it will emulate the “Humans of Hamilton” project by showcasing the senior citizens’ portraits, stories and wisdom. “I would really love to connect with the senior citizens since they have been extremely isolated over the past year, especially during COVID-19,” said Hill.

Hill is looking forward to all aspects of the ETA, particularly because of his fondness for Madrid.

“I’m most excited to return to a city that I’ve grown to love so much, especially since my time was cut a bit short. I’m particularly thrilled for the opportunity at IE. Conveniently enough, the IE university is located a block away from the Hamilton Madrid program, so I would walk by the IE campus every morning when I went to school in Spring 2020. It’s great to see my time in Madrid come full circle, as I’ll be back in the same neighborhood, but this time, it will be from a different perspective as a teacher rather than a student. I’m also really looking forward to meeting people through immersing myself in Madrid and working at IE,” said Hill.

Hill is slightly concerned about the impacts that COVID-19 may have on his storytelling project because he would prefer to meet and work with the senior citizens in-person.

“I know I’ll make [the storytelling project] work somehow, but the idea that I have about fostering these storytelling dialogues face-to-face with the seniors will be a wonderful opportunity,” said Hill.Both

Derby, a math major and Hispanic Studies and education minor, will have a rigorous year teaching academic subjects, in English, including math, science and technology, social studies and physical education. Derby will direct conversation groups and language partnerships throughout the academic year. During Fall 2019, while studying abroad in Spain, Derby taught English at Colegio FEM in Madrid. He also conducted research on bilingualism in the Spanish classroom. He is intrigued by the country’s expanding bilingual education system, and the emphasis on the acquisition of English language skills as well as an understanding of English-speaking countries. This summer, before beginning his grant, Derby will take an ESOL certification course as additional preparation for teaching academic courses in English. Derby also plans to teach tennis in his local community. In the future, Derby plans to pursue a master’s degree in Education and Certification in secondary math education and teach high school math.

For students who are curious about the Fulbright grant, Derby, Andriola, and Hill all recommend reaching out to Dosch now


or over the summer. Dosch strongly recommends that rising seniors reach out to her as soon as possible, since the Fulbright application is a time-intensive process.

The Fulbright ’22-’23 competition cycle is

open now

(Fulbright). The deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Hamilton students and alumni can contact Ginny Dosch at

[email protected]

about Fulbright. They may also schedule a Zoom meeting:

https://calendly.com/vdosch

.