Nine FSU students will study and teach around the globe after earning Fulbright scholarships

From the left. Top row: Michelle Perez, Denisha Campbell, Tessa Santner. Middle row: Miguel Gonzalez, Rachel Neale, Arria Hauldin. Bottom row: Caitlin Mims, Rachel Blankenship, Mia Hernandez.

Nine current and former Florida State University students have earned scholarships through the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Winners include graduate and undergraduate students and represent a host of majors and areas of research. Five will pursue teaching assistantships while the remaining four will conduct research. They’ll pursue that work in: Taiwan, Bulgaria, Scotland, Brazil, Spain and its Canary Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and one student will split their time between Greece and Türkiye.

Jesse Wieland, associate director of the Office of National Fellowships (ONF) at FSU, said the Fulbright application process is especially rigorous.

“This year’s Fulbright awardees spent many months and, in a few cases, years developing their research projects and preparing their application materials,” he said. “These students truly represent academic excellence and what is obtainable for FSU students at both the undergraduate and graduate degree levels.”

Wieland added that the hope from his office is that FSU’s Fulbright awardees inspire other students to dream big and embark on the application process. Bonnie Garcia-Gloeckner, assistant director at ONF, echoed Wieland.

“Undergraduate students, graduate students and recent alumni interested in applying for the current Fulbright cycle should contact our office now,” she said. “The first campus deadline is June 7 and we would welcome the opportunity to work with students and recent alumni on their applications.”

For more information, visit FSU’s Office of National Fellowships.

Rachel Harbin Blankenship

Memphis, Tennessee

Master’s student

Major: Art Therapy

Fulbright type: Fulbright/University of Stirling Award in Health, Well-being and Sport

Destination: Stirling, Scotland, UK

Fulbright work: Sport Psychology

Denisha Campbell

Chicago, Illinois

Doctoral candidate

Major: Communication Science and Disorders

Fulbright type: English Teaching Assistantship

Destination: Uruguay

Fulbright work: Interest in literacy practices

Miguel Gonzalez

Miami, Florida

Senior

Major: International Affairs

Fulbright type: English Teaching Assistantship

Destination: Brazil

Fulbright work: “Beyond teaching English, I will create and host multi-cultural activities on my designated university’s campus, and I will also work with local LGBT organizations to promote LGBT right and public health for all.”

Arria Hauldin

Cooper City, Florida

Graduated 2020

Major: Anthropology

Fulbright type: English Teaching Assistantship

Destination: Uzbekistan

Fulbright work: Teaching English at the university level

Mia Hernandez

Miramar, Florida

Graduated 2022

Major: Dual degree in English and Psychology

Fulbright type: English Teaching Assistantship

Destination: Canary Islands, Spain

Fulbright work: “I will be conducting a podcast project to spotlight the different refugee aid organizations in the Canary Islands, working to provide visibility for, and connect locals and non-locals to, resources in the community.”

Caitlin Mims

Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Doctoral candidate

Major: Art History

Fulbright type: Greece-Turkey Joint Research Award

Destination: Greece and Türkiye

Fulbright work: Research into Byzantine amulets held in collections in Greece and Türkiye in order to understand the ways amulets slipped between the boundaries of magic and religion.

Rachel Neale

Crystal River, Florida

Master’s student

Major: Slavic studies

Fulbright type: Research

Destination: Bulgaria

Fulbright work: Bulgarian language study, research in Bulgarian oral-traditional epic to investigate Slavic women’s roles in societies within the Ottoman sphere of influence, translation of Bulgarian epic songs.