The UofL Fulbright winners were awarded grants to teach English abroad in Turkey, Thailand, Moldova, Spain, Jordan, Taiwan and Germany.

The听Fulbright Program, administered by the Department of State鈥檚 Bureau of 成人直播al and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program.

Since 2001, UofL has been a Fulbright powerhouse, producing 175 scholars (the most in Kentucky) and earning national recognition seven times.

Those receiving 听补谤别:

• Medina Aslan听’24, , of Krymsk, Russia, to Turkey.
• Julia Barclay听’22, ’24, of Union, Ky., to听Thailand.
• Beverly Granger ’18, ’24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Louisville, Ky., to Moldova.
• Olivia Hanke ’24,听of Louisville, Ky., to Spain.
• Anna Hylen听’23,听, of Wilmore, Ky., to Jordan.
• Kaitlyn Purcell ’24, ,听of Georgetown, Ky., to Taiwan.
• Abigail Stanger ’24, College of Arts and Sciences, of Gilbertsville, to Germany.

In addition to the teaching assistantships, sophomores Alexandria Ipock-Groves, College of Arts and Sciences, of Madisonville, Ky., and Saadhavi Maskey, , of Lexington, Ky., were selected as recipients of the . Participants experience an academic program at a United Kingdom university and explore the culture, heritage and history of the UK.

Other prestigious scholars

Three UofL students were awarded . The Boren Awards provide students in all fields of study with funding for immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

Awardees include the following graduate students:

• Yelena Bagdasaryan, School of Public Health & Information Sciences, will study Czech in the Czech Republic
• Alexis Daniel, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Portuguese in Brazil; and
• Mikaella Tanales, College of Arts and Sciences, will study Mandarin in Taiwan

Four students were awarded the from the U.S. Department of State. The CLS program provides opportunities for overseas language and cultural immersion in critical languages that are essential to the United States鈥� engagement with the world.

CLS recipients are:

• Kamal Amirneni, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, of Aldie, Va.
• Ryan Apperson听’24, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Business
• Laura Hanna, senior, College of Arts and Sciences
• Rehan Kahloon, senior, College of Arts and Sciences,听of Louisville, Ky.

Other students also earned unique honors and opportunities.

Forest Clevenger ’22,听College of Arts and Sciences,听of Louisville, Ky., was awarded the

Eden Baize, senior, College of Arts and Sciences, was selected as the recipient of the This scholarship promotes the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

Edler Jonhatan, senior, was awarded fellowship, an academic preparation program for undergraduate juniors committed to public service careers.

And, two students received scholarships the university had never been awarded before.

Shraddha Patel听’24, College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the FAO Schwarz Fellowship. The selective fellowship provides an intensive two-year experience where participants hone their leadership development and professional skills to pursue careers in social impact.

Afi Tagnedji听’23, was selected for the which brings together graduate students from various disciplines across Stanford University.

More on these scholars and winners of other prestigious academic scholarships can be found at听

The , a highly selective two-year initiative designed for recent college graduates, offers a unique opportunity to engage with high-impact nonprofits in major metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Patel will be working with Reading Partners, an organization in New York dedicated to fostering childhood literacy.

The road to this accomplishment was not without its twists and turns. Recounting her time at UofL, Patel reflected on the initial ambiguity of her academic journey.

“There was a running joke with my friends about how many times I changed my major. There was always a lot of uncertainty for me,” Patel said.

Patel ultimately chose a degree in sociology and an individualized degree in social biology after taking classes she enjoyed in the majors.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know where sociology was leading me, but I knew I wanted to take more classes after I took my first one,鈥� said Patel. 鈥淢y academic background prepared me to work in this field because now I have a deep and intricate understanding of social issues.鈥�

During her two-years as a Community Engagement Fellow, Patel will provide one-on-one tutoring and complete a special project focused on volunteer recruitment. The work will be similar to an experience she had her first year at UofL volunteering with , a non-profit dedicated to early literacy interventions, as part of a .

“I really enjoyed doing that work and saw the impact in the students I mentored. That was what drew me to apply to Reading Partners,” said Patel. “It’s funny how things work out. At the time, doing that, I didn’t know where it was going to lead me and now I will be doing very similar work in the next two years.”

Amidst the excitement for what鈥檚 next, Patel remains grounded, acknowledging the pivotal role UofL played in shaping her aspirations for social impact.

“I’m very thankful for not only my professors, of course, who made their classes impactful but also for the that provided me the opportunity to live with and be surrounded by people that have similar interests,鈥� Patel said.