Whether it’s teaching English overseas or conducting research in Sweden or Japan, five Western Kentucky University students have big plans after they graduate this weekend.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program has offered grants to graduating seniors Nicole Childress, Keightley Dudgeon, Amelia Kolb, Deven Richardson and Corinne Warlick. Additionally, 2017 graduate Max McGehee was named an alternate for Fulbright study in Spain, a university news release said.

Despite their varied academic backgrounds, WKU Fulbright program administrator Melinda Grimsley said this year’s grant recipients share one thing in common: a dedication to reaching their potential during their time on the Hill.

This year’s Fulbright recipients also illustrate the faculty’s commitment to student mentorship, Grimsley said.

“It reflects well on WKU in terms of the investment of time and energy WKU faculty put into students,” she said.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program and aims to build lasting ties between the U.S. and other countries, the news release said. It operates in more than 160 countries across the globe.

At WKU, Grimsley said, 59 students have won Fulbright grants for work in 28 countries. As many as 43 awards have been granted since the Office of Scholar Development was founded in 2009 to recruit and advise WKU students in national scholarship competitions, Grimsley said.

Here’s a closer look at each WKU recipient of this year’s Fulbright awards.

Nicole Childress

As a marketing student, Childress has worked in design and marketing research for WKU’s student-run newspaper, the College Heights Herald, and the Talisman, the campus’ semi-annual student life magazine, the release said.

Most recently, she founded and was the creative director for Cherry Creative, a student-led media agency that produces creative advertising and themed supplements in student publications.

Her Fulbright project was inspired by a trip to Dublin during a semester at Harlaxton College. At Trinity College in Dublin, she’ll study how brands and cultural identity influence one another by examining the relationship between Guinness and young Irish adults’ sense of Irish identity, the release said.

Keightley Dudgeon

An Arabic student, Dudgeon plans to teach English in Morocco and plans to pursue a career teaching English abroad, particularly in the Middle East, according to the release.

In 2018, Dudgeon received a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship that funded a summer of intensive Arabic study in Morocco. The previous summer, she completed a similar program in Jordan.

She has worked with both newly resettled refugees and English as a second language students, including serving as a mentor at the YMCA Newcomer Program in Louisville and interned at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, among other experiences.

Amelia Kolb

As a graduating senior in Spanish, Kolb plans to teach English in Mexico, an interest that grew out of her work with Doors to Hope in Louisville. The nonprofit organization offers ESL and GED courses to Latino families.

During her time at WKU, Kolb has volunteered in Costa Rica and Belize and studied in Peru and Mexico.

Additionally, Kolb was worked with the International Center of Kentucky as an immigration case management intern.

After her Fulbright year in Mexico, she plans to start a career teaching English languages learners in the U.S. and abroad, the release said.

Deven Richardson

Richardson, a political science and international affairs student, has earned a Fulbright grant to Japan where he will conduct research on Japanese university students’ perceptions of Americans and the Japanese-American relationship.

Richardson previously received a Gilman Scholarship to fund a semester of study in Japan. He declined a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to participate in the Rangel Summer Enrichment Program, which targets students interested in international affairs careers, the release said.

He was awarded a Rangel Graduate Fellowship this year to fund a master’s degree in foreign service at Georgetown University when he returns from his Fulbright year in Japan, and he plans to pursue a career in foreign service with the U.S. Department of State.

Corinne Warlick

Warlick’s Fulbright grant will fund a year of research at the Wallenberg Wood Science Center in Stockholm, as she studies preserving byproducts of the wood pulping process for other applications, the release said.

As a chemistry student, Warlick has conducted research in chemistry and engineering on campus and completed summer internships with Brown Forman in Louisville and Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles.

While working on research during a National Science Foundation-funded internship, she studied polymer materials from an engineering perspective. She will begin her doctorate in chemical engineering at Vanderbilt University after her sojourn in Sweden.

Max M

c

Gehee

McGehee is a 2017 WKU graduate in Spanish and public relations. He was named an alternate for a Fulbright to study management at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He currently works at WKU as an international recruitment and admissions counselor in International Enrollment Management.

Through his job at IEM, McGehee has met with counselors and potential students from around the world, and he will begin an MBA program in supply chain management at the University of Tennessee this fall.