Sarah Hyatt ’24 awarded prestigious Fulbright grant
Ever since she learned about Fulbright teaching assistantships in high school, Sarah Hyatt ’24 saw an opportunity to combine her love of traveling and education. That opportunity just became reality as Hyatt was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship for the 2024-25 academic year. Hyatt joins the nearly 30 Kohawks to receive Fulbrights in the past decade.
As the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, the Fulbright is the most widely recognized and prestigious international exchange program in the world. The Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship program offers recent college graduates the opportunity to teach in primary and secondary schools across the globe.
Hyatt, who is majoring in psychology and theatre arts with a minor in English, is headed to Greece. She even earned her Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification in anticipation of potentially teaching overseas. One of her favorite Coe experiences so far was living in Belgrade, Serbia for a month during May Term, where she quickly acclimated to the culture, learning she was adaptable. That experience made pursuing the Fulbright even more obvious.
When she returns from her Fulbright, she plans to work for a few years before applying to graduate school in a counseling related field with the goal of working with children someday.
“Being a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant will help me gain valuable experience in serving students from varied cultural backgrounds and build strong communication, leadership and adaptability skills that I will need as a counselor,” Hyatt said. “I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed teaching.”
In choosing a college, Hyatt honed in on Coe in part because of the 1-on-1 support systems. The personal assistance in place paid off during the rigorous Fulbright application process.
Coe Fulbright applicants and recipients receive guidance from Associate Professor of English Amber Shaw, who serves as the college's national fellowship advisor. Coe has a history of national fellowship winners, and over the past seven years, Shaw has helped Coe students become Fulbright recipients, Truman Scholars, Goldwater Scholars and Gilman recipients. Hyatt was grateful for Shaw and the rest of the Fulbright advising committee’s help providing feedback and answering her questions.
“It's best to start early because you'll definitely go through many drafts before the application deadline. I really appreciate all the support,” Hyatt said.
Shaw knew Hyatt was an ideal candidate early on.
“The combination of Sarah's experience as a camp counselor and her career aspirations in school counseling made her a strong Fulbright candidate, especially for her award to Greece,” shared Shaw.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Approximately 2,000 U.S. students, artists and young professionals in all fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research abroad each year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in over 140 countries throughout the world.