Written by Jamila Jones ~ Guest Writer
Rick Smallshaw ‘23
A senior at the University of Lynchburg has been selected as a 2023 finalist for the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.
Rick Smallshaw ‘23 is a history major emphasizing in medieval and renaissance studies, minoring in German.
He is extremely involved on campus as a Westover Honors Fellow, president of Phi Alpha Theta, Wilmer Writing Center tutor and plays the viola in the string orchestra, chamber orchestra, university symphony and Calabrone string quartet.
“I will be, for the 2023-2024 school year, teaching English somewhere in the country of Germany,” said Smallshaw.
The Fulbright scholarship, a highly competitive program, allows the chosen scholar to teach English abroad, conduct research or obtain a graduate degree, while participating in cultural exchanges.
The Fulbright website explains, “In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds.”
Dr. Beth Savage, dean of the Westover Honors College and the secondary Fulbright program advisor, is very proud of Smallshaw and hopes he gains a lot from the scholarship while bringing his own strengths with him.
Savage said, “It’s going to be exciting for him to be launched out of [our] community into this literally foreign place and to really prove to himself what he’s capable of when all of these threads of support are a little more distant. We’re all still here, we all still support him, but for him to go out and take ownership, and take leadership and say I’m here to learn everything I can.”
Smallshaw said, “I just want to get a global perspective, really because I think that that’s the, at its essence, that’s the goal of Fulbright is to have people gain that global perspective and share cultures.”
For more information about Fulbright visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/.
Name of Press Contacts:
Beth Savage
Dr. Lucinda Spaulding
Sources:
Rick Smallshaw
Beth Savage
