Each year, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards 1,900 grants for students and young professionals worldwide.
This year, three Auburn students will partake in an educational and cultural experience of a lifetime under the program.
Jamesa Stokes, recent physics graduate, will conduct research at the German Space Agency's Institute of Structures in Design in Stuttgart, Germany.
Carson Williford, junior with a double major in English and philosophy, will take part in the four-week Summer Institute program at the United Kingdom's Nottingham Trent University.
Lauren Waldroop, recent graduate who double majored in environmental design and German, will study at Rhine-Westphalian Technical University in Aachen, Germany.
"We are excited for Jamesa, Carson and Lauren," said Melissa Baumann, Auburn assistant provost and director of the Honors College. "Their hard work and accomplishments at Auburn have been extraordinary. They will do well in their overseas studies."
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program administered by the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs offers three types of grants. Prospective recipients can apply for a research grant, English teaching assistant grant and a travel grant.
Each type of scholarship offers a list of countries a scholarship recipient can choose to study abroad in.
The scholarship requires students to provide a personal statement, proposal, transcripts, language evaluations and two recommendation letters depending on the type of grant. "While you're working on the application, it's important to know what you want to do," Stokes said. Stokes accepted a research grant where she will work for the German Space Agency's (DLR) Institute of Structures in Design in Stuttgart for a year.
Strokes' primary goal will be to research the behavior of fiber-oriented ceramics during hypersonic flight and develop better heat shields and thermal protection systems for spaceflight vehicles. Stokes will depart for Germany Aug. 3. "I studied for a semester in Germany fall 2012, and I really enjoyed my experience," Stokes said. "I knew that after coming back I wanted another opportunity to go to Germany, and I wanted to do something for a year before I went in to a Ph. D program. I thought Fulbright was perfect because I would still be able to go to Germany, as well as do research and learn."
Williford has maintained a 4.0 GPA and is co-creator and director of Student University, a student rendition of TED talks. He participates in several on- and off-campus programs such as the Miller Writing Center, the Auburn Connects book program and the Pine Hills Literacy Project.
"My background leading up to the Fulbright scholarship consisted of working passionately toward what I want to do, which is read and write and learn about how other people live," Williford said. "I've thrown myself into exactly what I want to do and have involved myself in whatever reasonable ways I've been able to."
Williford said the program also includes exclusive museum tours with a chance to meet local artists and tour their studios.
"I expect to learn academically and personally," Williford said. "I expect the experience to teach me so much about other people, other ways of living and other tastes that I won't be able to come back unchanged. I also expect to get a better understanding of life in the United States."
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