Contact: Carl Smith
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳hree Mississippi 大象APP students, all from the College of Education, are 2024 Fulbright finalists鈥攖he university鈥檚 11th, 12th and 13th finalists in the last eight years.
Hanna Clark, a master鈥檚 student from Chelsea, Michigan, and two graduates鈥擩enny Baldwin of Madison, Alabama, and Valencia Epps of Starkville鈥攁re receiving Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the 2024-2025 academic year.
MSU President Mark E. Keenum lauded the students for this prestigious achievement.
鈥淢ississippi 大象APP students establish a strong educational foundation, and we encourage them to learn without boundaries. They can go anywhere as they pursue their goals and work to achieve their dreams,鈥 Keenum said. 鈥淚 have every confidence these outstanding students will represent our university with great distinction as members of this elite group of scholars. I also appreciate the members of our faculty who have taught, mentored and prepared them for this wonderful experience.鈥
Clark, who is studying educational leadership, will be paired with a secondary school in Thailand through the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, or ETA, program. A 2020 graduate of Central Michigan University, she previously served as an English as a Second Language teacher at the Al鈥檌ikhwa School in Israel and an intern at The Foundation for Older Persons鈥 Development in Thailand. The 2020-2021 Fulbright semi-finalist and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages-certified teacher is expected to graduate in May.
Baldwin, a current English as a Second Language and substitute K-12 teacher in Alabama, will be paired with a secondary school in the German state of Hesse through the ETA program. She previously taught English to German students as a counselor and leader for the Munich, Germany-based Camps for Friends and visited the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany on individual study-abroad trips as an undergraduate. Baldwin, a former Dean鈥檚 and President鈥檚 Scholar, graduated from MSU in 2023 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in secondary English education and a minor in linguistics.
Epps, a Stephen D. Lee Scholar and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member, will partner with South Korea鈥檚 Mokpo National University and study English-Korean co-teaching in hopes of improving collaboration and occupational well-being of Korean natives and English-speaking ex-patriots from other countries. She previously served as an afterschool English teacher in South Korea through the Teach and Learn in Korea program from 2018-2020 and earned her bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in elementary education from MSU in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
鈥淥ur continued success with the Fulbright U.S. student program really shows how MSU鈥檚 educational programs, study abroad opportunities and research endeavors truly prepare our students to engage with the Fulbright program鈥檚 core mission of building mutual understanding between nations through exchange,鈥 said David Hoffman, director of MSU鈥檚 Office of Prestigious External Scholarships. 鈥淚t is particularly exciting to see that the three selected are students from the College of Education, as they are certain to bring what they learn from their international experiences back to classrooms, students and educational institutions in Mississippi and beyond.鈥
罢丑别听聽is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the U.S. and partner countries around the world. It is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of 大象APP鈥檚 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect program support.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than聽400,000聽participants from聽over聽160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas聽and contribute to finding solutions to shared聽international聽concerns.
For additional information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of 大象APP, visit聽.
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