Sixteen students from BYU are in the running to live internationally and continue their education as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
Each year, the Fulbright Program chooses students to travel abroad and receive their higher education as cultural ambassadors. The largest group of semifinalists for the program in BYU history is currently waiting to find out if they will have this opportunity.
Kayla Stephensen, a senior studying biology, was on a road trip to Idaho when she found out she was a semifinalist.
“I just sat there, and I was smiling this huge grin on my face,” Stephenson said. “My friend looks at me. She’s like, 'So did you get it? Are you a semifinalist?' I was like, 'Yeah.”
She hopes to travel to Peru to further her research on quinoa plant resilience.
Stephenson wants to make connections through her love for science and desire to impact the world, she said.
“That’s kind of the beauty of science," she said. "In this cutting edge research, it’s all hands on deck."
Kaitlin Lyman, an Asian Studies major, is another semifinalist. She wants to study local culture and languages in Taiwan.
Lyman discovered the Fulbright Program through friends and professors. She looks up to those who pushed her to apply for their persistence in seeking out new opportunities, she said.
“In that aspect, I can see how BYU students are very dedicated to putting in the time and effort to achieve their goals,” Lyman said.
Lyman and Stephenson appreciate BYU’s ability to support and motivate its students, they said.
“I mean, just that idea of going for it, shooting for something that’s hard; I just feel like there is such an awesome network of professors and professionals that are here to help us at BYU," Stephenson said.
The Fulbright Program will announce scholarship awards throughout the coming months.