Theater Minor Mychaela Anderson ’20 selected as Fulbright Scholar

Extract from the Dartmouth News article by Hannah Silverstein on May 22, 2020.
 

Nine From Dartmouth Offered Fulbright Scholarships

Two alumni and seven students have been offered the teaching or research grants.

Seven Dartmouth students and two alumni have been selected as Fulbright Scholars, and will study or teach in Austria, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, and South Korea.

Sponsored by the U.S. government, the Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other nations through international educational exchanges in more than 155 countries. Fulbright awards are available for research, graduate study, and teaching English. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Fulbright programs have been postponed until January.

"Once again, Dartmouth fielded applicants—and winners—across all academic disciplines. The caliber and curiosity of a Dartmouth student makes for an excellent candidate," says Associate Director of Undergraduate Advising and Research Dawn Carey, who, with her colleagues, advises Dartmouth students and alumni through the Fulbright and other national fellowship application processes.

To learn more about how to apply for the Fulbright and other programs, visit Dartmouth's Fellowship Advising Office.

Mychaela Anderson '20

Honolulu, Hawaii
Anthropology major; education and theater minor
English teaching assistant grant, South Korea

The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program offers Mychaela Anderson the perfect combination: a chance to lead a classroom before returning to graduate school for her teacher certification, and an opportunity to do so while immersing herself in South Korean culture.

"I wanted a gap year that would help me develop teaching and classroom skills that aren't as emphasized in most certification programs," she says. "I was also intrigued by Fulbright's emphasis on cultural exchange, which compliments my interest in anthropology."

An anthropology major, Anderson says studying other cultures has "helped me recognize and change my default modes of thinking and living in the world. I like classes that facilitate that kind of unlearning."

Anderson credits Francine A'Ness, the research assistant professor who taught her "Writing 5" section, with helping her realizing her "hidden love for education," Anderson says. "Every education professor who has taught me since then has continued to shape my interest."

Last summer she was a teaching fellow with Summerbridge, a San Francisco-based program for middle school students from under-resourced backgrounds, and, at Dartmouth, has volunteered with Students Teaching the Arts, providing arts-based activities for Hanover-area elementary school students.

Outside the classroom, she has worked in the costume shop and as a Collis After Dark Events intern and chair of the Collis Governing Boards, activities that have "shaped my time at Dartmouth," she says.

She has also served as an orientation team leader for first-year orientation, and as a student facilitator with the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy's Dartmouth Leadership, Attitudes and Behaviors (DLAB) program, which helps first-year students connect their activities to their personal values.