LaPorte ’11 Named Fulbright Recipient
May 02, 2011
Megan Rose Carr LaPorte '11 has received notification that she was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship to Thailand in English. The United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced the list of Fulbright recipients in late April.
LaPorte is one of over 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2011-2012 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
"I am very excited," said LaPorte. "I wanted to go abroad with a program that is well respected. I chose Thailand because it offers a cultural perspective much different than ours. I hope to learn some Thai and meet some people I would not have had the chance to interact with in the U.S."
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.
LaPorte will serve as an English teacher during her time in Thailand. She says her participation with Emmanuel's English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, which she served as the student coordinator of for the past two years, provided her with valuable knowledge. She credits Assistant Professor of History Caroline Reeves for her assistance in making the Fulbright Program a reality.
"I cannot overstate how integral she was to the application process," she said of Reeves. "I would not have even applied had it not been for all of her hard work. She was central to my success."
Fulbright recipients are among over 40,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than sixty years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has funded and supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered by the Institute of International Education.
