May 22, 2020

Drexel University’s Department of Global Studies and Modern Languages has much to celebrate, as four of its students and alumni have received or were alternates for major awards. Global Studies majors won two Fulbright Awards, presented by the U.S. Department of State. Two Global Studies majors are alternates for the Fulbright, and third is an alternate for the Boren Scholarship. More information on the Boren and Fulbright awardees is available from the Center for Scholar Development in the Pennoni Honors College.

In addition to these awards, a Global Studies graduating senior was awarded the Janice Bond Senior Award, presented by the Pan American Association of Philadelphia.

NICOLE BEDOYA

BA Global Studies ’19
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Brazil

Nicole Bedoya is a recent graduate who majored in global studies with minors in French and Spanish. She has a natural love for languages, having also studied Italian, Portuguese and Japanese along with her language minors. She hopes to use her time in Brazil to solidify her Portuguese skills while also exploring a vast country with a diverse history.

During her undergraduate career she has had the fortune of pursuing education and work abroad in Cambodia, Brazil, England, Ireland, Argentina and Spain. She wishes to continue to pursue global opportunities and encourage others to do so in her position as an English Teaching Assistant. Nicole would like to thank Dr. Hoekje, Dr. McMahon, Kelly Weissberger, Kate Hughes, and the Education Abroad team for their support during the application process and her undergraduate endeavors.

MARISSA OLSON

BA Global Studies ’20
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain

Marissa Olson is a Drexel Liberty Scholar majoring in global studies and minoring in public health and Spanish. Upon leaving the country for the first time for an Alternative Spring Break trip to Haiti during her freshman year, Marissa discovered a love for new cultures. Due to her global mindset, Marissa aspires to create social change and challenges herself to embark on new opportunities.

She is a Dornsife Global Development Scholar, and completed her first co-op in Eswatini, Africa (formerly Swaziland) focusing on menstrual hygiene in schools and sanitation and hygiene education. While studying abroad in Costa Rica the following year, Marissa strived to learn more about health care in vulnerable populations. Marissa seeks to educate and inspire; she has worked in two schools in West Philadelphia, where she applies her global learning outcomes closer to home.

Marissa hopes to broaden her educational experience through the Fulbright program by teaching English in Spain. Through this experience, she hopes to underscore her dedication to women in leadership by starting a girls’ wellness and empowerment group, emphasizing confidence and self-care. Marissa embarks on her postgraduate journey thankful for the opportunity that the Liberty Scholars program has provided her. Additionally, she thanks Ahaji Schreffler for challenging her to think globally and sparking her love for travel as a mentor, Kate Hughes for being extremely supportive as an adviser throughout her college experience, and Kelly Weissberger, who helped her tremendously in the Fulbright application process.

REVA SWIEDLER

BA Global Studies ’20
Fulbright Alternate English Teaching Assistantship to Mexico

Reva Swiedler is a global studies student minoring in public health and Spanish. While at Drexel, she has been an officer and garden manager for Drexel’s Sierra Club and is a member of the Women’s Club Soccer team. Her interest in food justice and medical anthropology can be seen in her coursework, her time volunteering at various community gardens in Philadelphia, and as a tutor and clinic volunteer for Puentes de Salud.

At Drexel, she was a Humanities and Social Sciences Fellow working under Dr. Erin Graham, researching “The Decline of Multilateralism in the United Nations” and spent her co-ops at a philanthropic foundation, the BESAFIR lab at UPenn, and a healthcare technology startup. In her pursuit to learn Spanish, she spent time abroad living with a host family in Mexico and studying at a university in Madrid, Spain. If selected to return to Mexico, she would hope to enhance her ability to communicate complicated concepts of health with deeper cross-cultural understanding, to eventually work as a public health educator for Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. She is grateful of the support from Dr. Erin Graham, Kate Hughes, and Kelly Weissberger.

CATHERINE KIM

BA Global Studies ‘22
Boren Scholarship Alternate to South Korea

Catherine is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in global studies with a concentration in global justice and human rights and minors in Spanish and Korean. Though she grew up in a bilingual household, her interest in languages started when she took her first foreign language class in middle school. She carried this interest to college, where she has been taking Spanish and Korean classes since her freshman year. She hopes to attend law school and apply her language skills in her future career.

HALEY CLEMSON

BA Global Studies ’20
Janice Bond Senior Award

The Janice Bond Senior Award, presented by the Pan American Association of Philadelphia, is awarded to graduating seniors who demonstrate excellence in courses related to Latin America from colleges and universities located in the Delaware Valley.

Haley was a Global Classroom student three times! First, this past fall with Professor Matus-Mendoza SPAN 201 (partner: UC-Santiago-Chile), then simultaneously in the winter term with Professor Mann SPAN 202 (partner: UC-Santiago-Chile) and Professor Matus-Mendoza SPAN 340 (partner: Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico). Haley also had the opportunity to study abroad in Chile.

Though Haley finished her Spanish minor last summer, her dedication and motivation to continue learning Spanish extended to this spring term. She is currently a student in the advanced Spanish course (SPAN 440) Politics in Mexican Theater, taught by Professor Matus-Mendoza.

Applications are now open for the 2021-22 Fulbright U.S. Student Program! Contact the Center for Scholar Development in the Pennoni Honors College for more information.