This time next year, Maeve King will be in Uruguay, South America, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA). At West Chester University, King is a triple major in Spanish, German, and Political Science, with a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. 

The support of inspiring faculty is one reason King, who grew up in Dunmore, in Lackawanna County, became a triple major and why she applied to the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship program.

“Dr. Linda Stevenson and Dr. Joseph Moser consistently helped me seek out opportunities to grow as a student and an individual in my community, provided guidance throughout all of my questions and concerns, and went out of their way on multiple occasions to help me succeed,” said King. “I would not be where I am today without them.”

Stevenson (a former Fulbright Scholar) is a WCU professor of Political Science and Moser an associate professor of German in the Foreign Languages Department.

King has never been to Latin America before but spent four weeks in the summer of 2018 in Vienna, Austria, through a WCU study abroad program led by Moser. She also studied in Seville, Spain, from January through May 2019. 

ETAs are awarded by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields. They are placed full-time in elementary schools, junior high schools, or high schools, usually assisting local English teachers, and work 35 hours per week, although only about 20 hours are actually spent in the classroom. All ETAs are also required to conduct a service project in the assigned host community during the grant period, making genuine contributions as they build interpersonal connections. 

Due to COVID-19, this year’s assignments will be conducted from March 2022 through November 2022, which is a full academic year in Uruguay.

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