The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program has awarded three Blugolds with the opportunity to help teach English in different countries during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to UW-Eau Claire Integrated Marketing and Communications.

The English Teaching Assistant program is one of the U.S. Student Program awards, administered by the Institute of International Education and funded by the U.S. Department of State, according to the Institute of International Education.

Cheryl Lochner-Wright said as UW-Eau Claire’s Fulbright Program adviser, she publicizes the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, helps students through the application process and chairs the campus Fulbright committee.

“The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program places grantees in schools abroad to supplement local English language instruction and to provide a native speaker presence in the classrooms,” Lochner-Wright said. 

Lochner-Wright said her own experience as an English Teaching Assistant in Germany was life changing and led her to a career in international education.

“I went in focused on becoming the best high school German teacher I could be and came out focused on finding a path where interacting with and learning from people all over the world was part of my daily life,” Lochner-Wright said. 

Blugolds Kaitlyn Zenner and Greta Wiederhold and Blugold alumna Natalie Lasinski were chosen for the English Teaching Assistant program, according to Integrated Marketing and Communications.

Zenner, a Spanish and psychology student set to graduate in May 2022, said she will be an English Teaching Assistant in La Rioja, Spain.

She said she hopes to become a school psychologist and her experience as an English Teaching Assistant will help prepare her.

“I really wanted to be involved in an immersive experience where I could work with students from a different culture,” Zenner said.

Wiederhold, a German education student set to graduate in May 2022, said she will be an English Teaching Assistant in Hessen, Germany.

“I decided to apply since I knew that UWEC has good support for applicants and that I would have lots of guidance during the process,” Wiederhold said.

Lasinski graduated in December 2021 with a psychology and Spanish degree and will be an English Teaching Assistant in the Canary Islands, Spain, according to Integrated Marketing and Communications.

Blugold alumni Emma Koehn and Alyssa Huelsbeck were chosen as alternates for the English Teaching Assistant program, according to Integrated Marketing and Communications.

Koehn graduated in 2019 with a degree in integrated strategic communication and political science, and was chosen as an alternate to teach in Thailand.

Koehn said alternates are kept in the running for a grant in case more funding becomes available.

“I decided to apply after a recommendation from a previous Fulbright scholar, Noach Turecek,” Koehn said. “He talked so highly of his experience.”

Huelsbeck graduated in May 2021 with a degree in Spanish and biochemistry/molecular biology, and was chosen as an alternate to teach in Spain.

“It is a year of cultural immersion in a community abroad, where they learn how to apply those qualifications and goals in a real-world setting,” Lochner-Wright said. “It offers endless opportunities for growth, self-reflection and building connections with people they meet from the host country.”

More information about the English Teaching Assistant program can be found on the Fulbright website.

Kasper can be reached at [email protected].