A record four recent graduates were awarded Fulbright Scholarships to study in Europe.
Matthew Pollock, recent graduate in English will be teaching English in Trittau, Germany. Matthew Goforth, recent graduate in physics, will join the Complex Plasma Research Group at the Technical University of Munich. Tyler Look, who graduated in aviation management, will be studying public transportation at the Technical University of Berlin. Steven Vickers, recent graduate in history, will serve as an English teaching assistant in Latvia.
Vickers said he will be teaching high school and middle school students, and be involved in the community. Vickers said he has been discussing volunteer opportunities, specifically environmental opportunities, with the U.S. embassy in Latvia.
"They also expect me to be involved with the local community as a cultural ambassador as well as a teacher," Vickers said.
Vickers said his interest in the Fulbright was sparked when his sister declined a Fulbright Scholarship to Germany. He also said he wanted to go somewhere different where he had never been before.
"I wanted to experience a culture vastly different from my own, that also I knew would challenge me, whether it's through language barriers, but also challenge the way I look at the world, and what better place than a former Soviet republic," Vickers said.
Vickers said the hardest part of the application process was writing personal statements because he had to take the Fulbright Commission into consideration, while maintaining individuality.
"The Commission, they're reading dozens, if not hundreds of applications, and if you don't catch their eyes and really draw them in immediately, then it's all for naught," Vickers said.
Vickers said he thinks his experience as a police officer in Mobile for six years before coming to Auburn will help him overcome cultural and language barriers in Latvia.
"We had a large Hispanic community [in Mobile], and, at the time, I didn't speak any Spanish at all, so it forced me to find ways to communicate and to find ways to overcome challenges in order to address any issue I had to be addressing," Vickers said.
Vickers said the stress of being a police officer, as well as the stress of attending college while working full time helped him develop skills to overcome stress he encounters in Latvia.
Winning the Fulbright Scholarship was second only to graduating from Auburn, according to Vickers. He said he found out while driving to a history conference at Mississippi State.
"It's a feeling of accomplishment that I had never felt before," Vickers said. "Being told that I had value, that my ideas, that everything that I had worked for to achieve had a purpose and that there was real meaning to what I was doing."
Vickers said he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in history, and his interest area is in civil and political unrest. He said he wants to be a professor at a research-driven institute. He said the experience will impact his future research and perspective on history.
Look said he has been to Germany before on an exchange program, as well as a few times on his own, and has family living there. He said he became interested in the Fulbright after a friend won it in 2013.
Look said he took an interest in German from a young age, and brought that interest to college with him.
"It's been interesting how this Fulbright is kind of a culmination of the experiences I've had in my academic background as well," Look said.
Look said he began the application process last August, and said being proactive is key in winning the scholarship.
"The key to it really was getting started early and had I not done that, I would have missed the opportunity," Look said.
Look said the processes for different Fulbright Scholarships is different. For his research scholarship, he included a statement about his research with the personal statement. He said a candidate must also be invited by a foreign university to do their research.
"I think that was the biggest hurdle, finding a professor who would invite me to do my research at the university there," Look said.
Look said his research is based on why people use the transportation they use. He said it is technical, social and anthropological.
Look said cultural differences, such as making friends, will also take adjusting to. He said Germans can take time to trust people and warm up to them.
Patience was something Look said he had to learn during the process.
"We as Americans are very impatient, we want quick answers, and Germans can take their time, but it's with good intention," Look said.
Look said a professor responded to him quickly, which was surprising.
Look said he hopes the experience will help him broaden his horizons for potential careers.
"Public transportation will open up my door to kind of diversify my study and my experience a little bit more than just aviation," Look said. "I actually have a really strong interest in public transportation, so it's really a blessing to not only lead research, but also on a freelance, kind of independent basis over there."
Look said he found out he won two weeks early, in his international economics class.
"They always tell you never to check you email in class," Look said. "But I did. I completely flipped out. I almost had to step out of class."
Paul Harris, associate director of prestigious national scholarships in the Honors College, and the Fulbright adviser at Auburn.
Harris said the most challenging part of the job is fine-tuning candidates' personal statements, and helping them "find their voice."
He was also a Fulbright Scholar in 1994, as a doctoral student at Auburn.
"It was great," Harris said. "I had a wonderful time. One of the best years of my life."
Harris said his favorite part of the process is working with the student and watching them grow, even if they don't win a scholarship.
"Getting to know them, getting to help them articulate their dreams and their scholarly goals and getting to help them see that," Harris said. "That's the most gratifying part of the job."
Harris said he is excited to see the Fulbright winners chase their dreams.
"It will be a great year for them," Harris said. "A great year abroad."
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