Growing Global Change Makers

The Freeman Foundation International Internship and the Fulbright Program are two of the most defining opportunities students can participate in through the Institute for Global Engagement at Saint Michael’s College. These flagship programs are preparing students to be global change makers. Students can apply for a Freeman Intern Fellowship during college and a Fulbright Scholarship upon graduation.

“My dream is for every student at the College, regardless of major, to have experienced and taken advantage of some type of global opportunity during their time here,” says Jeffrey Ayres, director of the Institute for Global Engagement and chair and professor of international relations.

Saint Michael’s is one of only 33 colleges and universities in the United States that receive a Freeman Foundation grant annually to support international internships in Asia. This spring and summer, 16 students will be interning for eight weeks in either Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, or Seoul, South Korea. The students will be placed in internships across a wide variety of organizations, institutions, and educational facilities to match their skills and interests.

2023 Freeman Students in Vietnam

2022 Freeman Students in South Korea

In addition, Saint Michael’s graduates and alumni can apply for the Fulbright Program upon graduation. The Fulbright opportunities can include working as English teaching assistants or researchers in locations around the globe. “The Fulbright Program is the most prestigious and preeminent international educational exchange program in the world,” Ayres said.

This year, Saint Michael’s was designated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as a top-producing Fulbright institution, recognizing it as one of the colleges and universities with the highest number of students selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. This is the second time Saint Michael’s has received this recognition. For the 2023–24 academic year, four students from Saint Michael’s were selected for a Fulbright award; they are currently in programs in Mexico, Spain, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Hayley Jensen ’22 and Alexyah Dethvongsa ’22 were two of the Fulbright scholars this academic year, and they are working as English teaching assistants in Vietnam and Thailand, respectively. The duo reconnected for a weekend in Thailand earlier this year. “We talked a lot about being abroad and how much you learn about where and who you are,” Dethvongsa wrote in an email.

Hayley Jensen ’22 and Alexyah Dethvongsa ’22 in Thailand

Patricia Siplon, professor of political science and international relations, director of public health, and director for undergraduate fellowships at Saint Michael’s, supports students and alumni who want to apply for a Fulbright award and said there is often a correlation between Freeman and Fulbright for globally minded students at the College. “The Freeman awards are becoming feeders for the Fulbright awards. At least half of our students who are semifinalists and finalists for a Fulbright award were Freemans first,” Siplon said.

Siplon herself was a Fulbright recipient twice, in Tanzania and Jordan. “They were probably the most impactful years of my life,” she said. “They deepened my understanding about some crucial, pivotal things. … It opens people’s eyes to things in a way that merely traveling doesn’t.”

Siplon is part of a five-member faculty committee at Saint Michael’s— former Fulbright scholars who help students during the application process. The other members of the committee are Ayres, Candas Pinar (assistant professor of sociology), and Kimberly Sultze and Jon Hyde (both professors of digital media and communications).

In addition, Saint Michael’s invites graduate students on Fulbright Fellowships to come study on campus. Currently, three graduate students are studying at Saint Michael’s from Algeria, Mali, and Iraq. “Fulbright really transforms your life completely,” Chayma Bouzenag of Algeria said of the experience earning a Master of Arts Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MATESOL) at Saint Michael’s through Fulbright. “I know that once I go back home, I can be of a greater service and use to my community.”

Chayma Bouzenag of Algeria at the Washington Monument

Three Saint Michael’s students have won Fulbright awards for the 2024–25 academic year. Siplon said she believes Saint Michael’s is marching in the direction of creating a “Fulbright culture.” “I think that Fulbrighters come back with a knowledge of what they’re capable of and a knowledge of just how wide open the world is. And also an urgency to do things that they hope will have positive impacts on the world,” Siplon said. “I think being a Fulbrighter broadens who you care about. It becomes less about your role as a U.S. citizen and more about your role as a global citizen.”