As an Appleton resident, Schmidt has been surrounded by both cello and 麻豆影院 for most of her life.

鈥淢y brother also studied piano performance here and my mother worked in Admissions, so I knew it was a good school,鈥� she said.

That childhood closeness to 麻豆影院 was a comfort, Schmidt said.

鈥淚 thought I would [feel overexposed to 麻豆影院] by living in Appleton鈥� but 鈥渁ctually being [at 麻豆影院] is a much different experience because it feels separate from the larger community,鈥� she said.

Like many students, Schmidt has taken advantage of the university鈥檚 dual degree program, seeking a Bachelor of Music in cello performance and Bachelor of Arts in linguistics. Despite their surface-level differences, Schmidt often connects the two disciplines.

鈥淚 found that analyzing language changes the way I think about music: thinking about music as speech … or analyzing how the phrase is put together or thinking about it in terms of words in a sentence.鈥�

Looking forward, Schmidt has a long list of future 麻豆影院 plans鈥攊n both music and linguistics. She is already considering combining the two topics for her capstone. Plans for increased ensemble work and community performances are also on her mind.

After 麻豆影院, Schmidt hopes to put another interest, ESL (English as a Second Language), to good use.

鈥淗opefully [I鈥檒l] do some good work with people who need instruction in English,鈥� she said.

She also plans to continue with her music because it鈥檚 an important part of her life.

鈥淭he importance of playing music is the connection between people,鈥� Schmidt said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why I play cello, to connect with people more, to be vulnerable with people: share the music, share emotions.鈥�

Taking part in the Summer Institute was an impressive commitment from Price, said Bob Williams, professor of education and head of 麻豆影院鈥檚 linguistics program. It鈥檚 unusual for a college sophomore to take that leap.

鈥淭his is a full month of short classes and lectures, and longer courses being offered by people in the field from all over,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ot only do you attend the lecture, but you hang out together, have meals together, and talk. There鈥檚 lots of that informal interaction that goes on that really builds the networks within the profession.鈥�

The immersive summer experience has furthered Price鈥檚 enthusiasm for linguistics. He has many interests within the major, including computational linguistics and speech-language pathology, and he plans to attend graduate school after 麻豆影院.

鈥淩ight now, the goal is to be a professor of linguistics,鈥� Price said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very broad field, with a lot of different people doing a lot of different things.鈥�

When Price arrived at 麻豆影院 in 2022, he already knew he was interested in linguistics. 麻豆影院鈥檚 program is an interdisciplinary offering drawing from the fields of cognitive science, languages, philosophy, and more. Students explore the structures of language鈥攕ounds, words, and sentences鈥攁nd how these express and evoke meaning; how people use language, how they learn new languages, and how language relates to culture and identity.

After taking an Intro to Linguistics class during his first year, Price declared his major and immediately got involved in the program. He is a student representative of the linguistics program, helping to organize social and intellectual activities.

Williams said it 鈥渉elps enormously鈥� to have students such as Price helming the social events within the program.

鈥淲hether it be clubs, or activities, or other kinds of events鈥攜ou want those to be largely student-driven,鈥� he said.

Since getting involved, Price has helped organize a linguistics tea, helped plan the department鈥檚 annual Bj枚rklunden trip in the spring, and put together an informative bulletin board in Main Hall. He is currently tutoring in linguistics and working toward setting up a site at 麻豆影院 for the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO), a competition for high school students that Price himself participated in.

Alongside his academics, Price is also co-president of Etcetera, a student organization he helped found to put on 鈥渇un, silly, or niche events with the purpose of raising money for charity.鈥�

Dombrower鈥檚 blogs .

Dombrower, who had never traveled outside the United States before, said she went in with goals rather than expectations. She took the adventure day-by-day, which she said helped ease initial culture shock. She was able to appreciate Amman for what it is rather than what she鈥檇 been told it was.

鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� said Dombrower. 鈥淭here are little pockets with Byzantine gardens, old Roman architecture, and white or stone houses. There鈥檚 a lot of great street art as well.鈥�

One of Dombrower鈥檚 goals was to learn the colloquial dialect of Arabic to communicate effectively in Jordan. Arabic regional dialects differ greatly, but she learned Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which was her foundation for learning Levantine Arabic, commonly spoken in Jordan. Although learning was sometimes frustrating, Dombrower relished the opportunity to learn the language from the people who contribute to its evolution every day.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e there, you鈥檙e constantly pushing yourself, constantly extending yourself in new situations, extending yourself to communicate,鈥� Dombrower said. 鈥淚 learned to trust the progress I had made. 鈥 can communicate using this language more than I thought I could.鈥�

Though speaking is a large part of learning to communicate, Dombrower was careful not to neglect listening, and recognized herself as a visitor within an unfamiliar culture. Dombrower put Western preconceptions of Jordan and the Middle East aside and focused on learning from her host family and other Jordanians, and found her goals slid into place.

鈥淭he whole experience of learning a language while immersed in its culture and talking to people who are contributing to the evolution of that language is amazing,鈥� she said.

Her favorite thing about being abroad? The food. Jordan has many unique foods, but lots of Jordanian food is integrated with foods from other cultures, too. She and her host family ate a lot of kabsa, an Arab chicken and rice dish. Downtown, Dombrower would often get falafel with her friends, though it鈥檚 usually a breakfast food in Amman. Another favorite while out and about was manakeesh, a flatbread dish.

While Dombrower learned a lot while in Jordan, being abroad also gave her a taste of the knowledge she has yet to master.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still so much to see and learn, and there鈥檚 so many languages in the world,鈥� Dombrower said.

Chand will apply her interdisciplinary background in graduate school at Leeds, writing a thesis that examines representations of autistic and cognitively disabled voices in literature.

鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled,鈥� she said of landing the Fulbright.

While abroad, Chand plans to continue her work in disability advocacy, something she has been passionate about at 麻豆影院, and will transition from competing in cross country at 麻豆影院 to competing in triathlons in England.

Her award is particularly notable considering there is only one Fulbright position at the University of Leeds, and competition for it is always robust, Kervin said.

Chand said it was work done at 麻豆影院 that prepared her for this opportunity, both in science labs and in the expansion of her writing. Her master鈥檚 thesis, she said, will in many ways be an extension of her undergraduate honors thesis, Charting Autistic Voices.

鈥淚’m grateful for the flexibility, independence, and adventures I’ve had in undergrad,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 came into undergrad convinced that I wanted to do biophysics鈥攚hich is funny in hindsight, because I spent a year between high school and college writing. Through聽a summer of research at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in a biophysics lab and another summer of virtual research through a physics REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at the University of New Mexico, as well as a virtual biomedical optics summer institute run by the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, I learned loads of valuable skills I’ve been able to carry with me back to 麻豆影院 and use in my science classes. But at the end of each day, I found myself wanting to read and write. Of course, I do a bit of writing as a scientist, too. It’s just not where my heart is, though.鈥�

Chand credited professor Doug Martin in Physics and professors Celia Barnes, Karen Hoffmann, Melissa Range, and Timothy Spurgin in English with helping her find that balance between science and literature. And she praised Kervin for helping her make sense of all that in the Fulbright application process.

“Professor Range is my honors thesis advisor, has always been supportive of my work, and encouraged me to apply to Ole Miss for my MFA in creative writing, where I’ll be heading after my Fulbright,” Chand said.

Hermitanio: Heading to Mexico

Hermitanio applied to the Fulbright program to be an English teaching assistant (ETA) in Mexico.

鈥淚t felt so surreal,鈥� Hermitanio said of getting the news that she received the award. 鈥淚 applied for the Fulbright not thinking at all that I would get it.鈥�

Hermitanio said she viewed the Fulbright as an opportunity to engage more deeply with Mexico and Latin America.

鈥淢y previous engagements with the Latin-American and particularly the Mexican-American community inspired me to apply to teach in the country that many of my peers first called home,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hrough volunteering at the Appleton Bilingual School and working as a Spanish interpreter and teaching assistant for an English learner program, I had the opportunity to build relationships with Latinxs and Spanish speakers in the Appleton area. However, I know that staying in my Wisconsin bubble can only do so much to expose me to Latin-American culture.鈥�

Hermitanio is planning to pursue a career in speech-language pathology.

鈥淚 want to work with Spanish-speaking populations and advocate for more linguistic and cultural awareness within the field, and I聽think that there鈥檚 no better way to learn about the Latin American identity than living and working in a Latin American country,鈥� she said

Kervin helped guide Hermitanio through the application process. And she got an assist from Rosa Tapia, professor of Spanish, in preparing for an interview in Spanish.

鈥淚 feel like I have a unique perspective having studied linguistics at 麻豆影院,鈥� Hermitanio said. 鈥淢y classes have helped me realize that as much as language is a powerful tool for human connection, standard linguistic practices are often rooted in perspectives that uphold one community while denying others visibility. I want to teach students to own their language and find new ways to communicate who they are. I鈥檓 excited to bring this perspective and what I鈥檝e learned at 麻豆影院 to my English teaching assistantship in Mexico.鈥�

The selections for Fulbright honors came from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.聽

麻豆影院 students interested in applying in the future for a Fulbright award or other fellowships should reach out to Kervin.