Senior Joins the Ranks of Seton Hall Fulbright Scholars  

A Seton Hall University undergraduate has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, a prestigious grant that will take her to Taiwan for ten months during the 2012-2013 school year. Rachel Rosenstrock is a Senior with majors in Diplomacy and International Relations, and Modern Languages, as well as minoring in Economics. She is the first SHU Fulbrighter in this year’s cohort.

Rachel’s application emphasized her passion for teaching, international business and politics, as well as her lifelong immersion in the culture and language of China. Several members of the Seton Hall community supported her Fulbright application with enthusiastic letters, including Dr. David Beneteau (Languages, Literatures and Cultures), Kai Wang (The Alliance for Global Education) and Maureen Kennedy Barney (Director of Midwest Admission).

After an orientation in August, she will serve as an English teacher at a school yet to be determined. For the duration of her stay in Taiwan, the Fulbright award will pay for all transportation, living and medical insurance expenses. Upon her return to the U.S., Ms. Rosenstrock aims to continue her education, ultimately seeking a career in International Business.

Ms. Rosenstrock is the twelfth Seton Hall student to become a Fulbright Scholar. In 1994-1995, while on a Fulbright award, Theresa Napolitano studied Sweden’s role in regional civilian defense to that county. In 2004-2005 on a Fulbright award to Belgium and Luxembourg, Yevgeniy Oleynikov studied European Union foreign policy toward the U.S. More recently, the 2008-2009 school year brought Fulbright awards to SHU students Julia Edwards (Norway), Lisa Rubenthaler (Spain), Marie Pineda (South Korea) and Kristin Pe (Taiwan). In 2009-2010 SHU recipients included Stephanie Aigner and John Papaspanos (Greece), Katheryn Sheldon (Slovakia) and Grace Chung (Indonesia). Last year Meghan Dixon was awarded a grant to go to Taiwan.

Seton Hall’s growing Fulbright initiative is an important aspect of the university’s increasing internationalization efforts. While only two SHU students applied for Fulbright awards in 2007-2008, fifteen applied in this year’s cycle, including Ms. Rosenstrock. The university’s Fellowships Advisor, Mr. Peter Hynes, hopes to hear word of additional Fulbright awards in the coming weeks. Students in next year’s senior class and any graduate students interested in a Fulbright application in the upcoming application cycle should contact Hynes to prepare their application, due in mid-September. The program supports study and teaching grants in over 140 countries across the world.