Graduating Seniors and Alumni Receive Fulbright Grants

Grinnell College graduating seniors and alumni—Valery Lopez '24, Daniel Rosenbloom ’23, and Kendall Yim ’24—were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to teach English abroad for the 2024–2025 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. They were selected based on their academic achievement, distinct experiences, personal attributes, and leadership potential, with the opportunity to create connections in a complex and changing world.

For over 75 years, Fulbright grants have provided future American leaders with an unparalleled opportunity to study, conduct research, and teach abroad, with the goal of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.  

“Grinnell’s grantees will be successful ambassadors in their respective countries—contributing their strengths, expanding their teaching skills, and gaining a deep appreciation of their host country and its people,” said Ann Landstrom, Fulbright program adviser (FPA) and assistant dean and director of global fellowships and awards in Grinnell College’s Center for Careers, Life, and Service.

Valery Lopez, Class of 2024

Valery Lopez '24, a political science and French double major from Palatine, Illinois, was selected for a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Colombia. Lopez will serve as a language-teaching assistant for Colombian students at the university level—preparing English language lessons and activities and giving presentations on topics related to the United States.

“I am grateful to have an opportunity to work in Colombia and continue to grow and deepen my understanding of the world,” said Lopez. She has experience in language teaching—as an English teaching assistant at L’Institut de Métiers de l’Enseignement Supérior (L’IMS) in Nantes, France and assistant teacher and French language tutor for the French Department and Center for Language and Intercultural Exchange at Grinnell College.

“Working as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Colombia will allow me to merge my interest in language learning and intercultural exchange with my passion for public policy,” shared Lopez.  Through her supplementary project and country engagement, she wants to visit with government programs and local humanitarian organizations to learn about Colombia’s refugee resettlement efforts and begin exploring Latin American regional politics.

“As I have explored policymaking broadly, I realize how important it is for me to explore my identity as a Latina who is entering law and policy spaces,” added Lopez.

Lopez has distinct public service experience as an intern for Immigrant Allies in Marshalltown, Iowa amd mentee for Excell Beyond 211 in Palatine, Illinois. In summer 2023, she was a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ford School of Public Policy.

At Grinnell college, she served as a committee member for the Rosenfield Program and the Political Science Student Educational Policy Committee, research assistant for assistant professor Jonathan Larson in the Education department, social outreach coordinator for Grinnell’s Questbridge Executive Board, and office assistant for the Office of the Registrar.

Following the Fulbright, Lopez plans to continue her education by obtaining a master’s in public policy and a Juris Doctorate. As an immigration attorney, she wants to work in government and non-pofit organizations to explore the intersection between public policy and law for Latinos in the United States.  

Daniel Rosenbloom, Class of 2023

Daniel Rosenbloom '23, a political science and Russian double major with a linguistics concentration from Park City, Utah, was selected for a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Azerbaijan. Rosenbloom will teach conversational English at the vocational, teacher training, or university level—helping to foster a communicative style of teaching and learning, participating in public and cultural outreach programs, and initiating a self-designed community service project.

“I have been in love with the Caucuses and Azerbaijan in particular for years and am thrilled that I will be teaching at the university level and afforded the chance to more fully explore the country,” said Rosenbloom. Having lived in Azerbaijan for a summer, he met youth who desired English to access a wider world. He is passionate about providing those language skills while also helping the youth appreciate the beauty and preservation of local languages.

Currently, Rosenbloom is a third grade home room teacher in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He had studied in Bishkek for his off-campus study and was excited to return for a year of teaching at the United World International School following graduation.

Language leaning has been an important component of Rosenbloom’s education—studying Azerbaijani as a Critical Language Scholar in summer 2023, Russian and Kyrgyz duing his Central Russian Studies off-campus study, Russian as a virtual Critical Language Scholar in summer 2020, and Russian as a Middlebury Language Schools student in summer 2019. His youth was filled with cultural and language fascination that led to his Russian college major.

Rosenbloom plans to initiate a community service project involving minority language groups, specifically preserving the distinct identity of the Talysh language with the publisher of a Talysh language newspaper in Baku.

While in college, Rosenbloom was a member of the Russian Student Educational Policy Committee,  research assistant on Avar – a language spoken in Azerbaijan mentored by Professor Todd Armstrong, contributing writer for the Scarlet and Black campus newspaper, student leader at the Spencer Grill, and student employee in the Mailroom.

In the community, Rosenbloom served as a tutor and teacher with the Liberal Arts in Prison Program, translation and interpretation intern at the Iowa International Center, and courtesy worker at Fareway stores. His student mentoring began early in his life as an Academic All Star with Big Brothers Big Sisters, receiving a scholarship as one of 20 selected across the nation.

Following the Fulbright, Rosenbloom plans to pursue a PhD in political science with a research focus on nationalism and clan and tribal politics in the Former USSR, namely the Caucasus and Central Asia, to then ultimately be a professor.

Kendall Yim, Class of 2024

Kendall Yim '24, a classics major from Timonium, Maryland, was selected for a South Korea Fulbright English teaching assistantship. Yim will be a full-time teacher in a Korean primary or secondary school teaching English and United States culture. She will write and execute lesson plans, design an after-school club, and conduct a summer English camp.

“The Fulbright English teaching assistantship in South Korea will be a valuable step along my professional and personal journey,” said Yim. “As a prospective educator, I look forward to developing foreign language pedagogies and classroom management skills."

Yim has been a tutor for the Elementary and Intermediate Ancient Greek classes at Grinnell College and a volunteer English as a second language (ESL) teacher at Asylee Women Enterprise in Baltimore, Maryland. Having had these formative opportunities, she is eager to collaborate with and learn from her host teachers in South Korea.

"By forming relationships within my host school and community, I will advance my Korean language proficiency and connect further with my heritage," shared Yim.

Although her daily teaching schedule will be full, Yim plans to interact with the local community through hiking groups and sports leagues, while also visiting museums and archaeological sites to gain a deeper understanding of Korean history and material culture.

While at Grinnell, Yim has served as a representative and co-chair for the Classics Student Educational Policy Committee and as a collections technical assistant at the Grinnell College Museum of Art. Before her graduation in December 2024, Yim will study at the Middlebury Korean Language School during the summer and spend the fall in Greece at College Year in Athens (CYA). Then, Yim will begin the year-long Fulbright grant in January 2025.

Following the Fulbright, Yim plans to explore career options in education such as college counseling and corporate training. 

Alternates

Two Grinnell College semi-finalists were named alternates for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, and may be offered the award at any time before the grant start date for each country:

• Frances “Franny” Atmore '24, from St. Paul, Minnesota, put forward a research proposal to study brown bear behavior in response to commercial bear viewing on the Mitchell River in British Columbia, Canada. “As bear habitat decreases and human-bear interaction increases, this research is growing in importance while also a shared concern between Canada and the United States,” said Atmore. Atmore, a biology and anthropology double major, is committed to environmental education with special emphasis on human-wildlife interactions.
• Dorota Ziabicka '23, from Deerfield, Illinois, is prepared to teach English language and American culture in Azerbaijan. Ziabicka’s first visit to Azerbaijan was Baku while on study abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia and in summer 2023 she was a Critical Language Scholar student in Azerbaijan. “The people I met taught me Azerbaijani and welcomed me into their homes and shared their culture and care with me,” said Ziabicka, a political science major. “I want to reciprocate by sharing my culture and language, supporting student’s learning and growth.”

Semi-Finalists 

Three other Grinnell College applicants were named semi-finalists in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program process for 2024–2025: 

• Georgia Carbone '24, from Haverhill, Massachusetts, was a semi-finalist for an English teaching assistantship in the Slovak Republic.
• Brian Prussman '24, from Muscatine, Iowa, was a semi-finalist for an English teaching assistantship in Switzerland.
• Aliya Singleton '24, Idaho Springs, Colorado, was a semi-finalist for an English teaching assistantship in Cyprus.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in more than 140 countries worldwide and annually awards more than 2,100 grants for U.S. students to study overseas. Visit us.fulbrightonline.org for more information about the program. Grinnell College current students and alumni are invited to meet with Fulbright Program Advisor Ann Landstrom (landstrom@grinnell.edu) for guidance and information.