Two UNO Students Selected as Fulbright Recipients

The opportunity to represent the U.S. overseas is a dream that will come true for UNO students Tyler Ayres and Courtney Brink this fall. Both will be heading abroad as recipients of prestigious Fulbright student awards, taking on the challenge of teaching English in Germany and Taiwan respectively.

Tyler Ayres

Tyler Ayres, who graduated from UNO in Dec. 2023 with his Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking and a certificate in Advanced Writing, will be teaching English in Taiwan. Ayres is currently teaching English at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts. “I applied to the Fulbright Program mainly to grow as an educator and Mandarin speaker, though I'm also drawn to Taiwan’s food culture, miles of coastline, political legacy, night markets, vibrant democracy, colorful history, lack of snow, and so many other aspects,” he said. With undergraduate degrees in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and as a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he has already conquered many challenging experiences in his life. He is ready to undertake this adventure—and eager to get in a classroom in Taiwan.

Navigating those opportunities will be familiar for Tyler, who is “a consummate professional,” according to his recommender, Jody Keisner, she continued, Tyler works “collaboratively with others and respectfully considers everyone’s opinion.” Ayres worked at UNO on The Linden Review as a copyeditor, bringing his prose-polishing skills to writing and applying to Fulbright too.

Courtney Brink

Courtney Brink, who will graduate this May with her degree in Early Childhood Inclusive Education and a minor in German, has already spent significant time in classrooms. But she is thrilled to have the opportunity to spend a year teaching English in Germany, where she studied for six weeks last summer in Braunschweig. She will now get to spend a year working in a wholly different educational system, applying the skills she has developed at UNO.

Brink is a graduate of the University Honors Program and the Teacher Scholars Academy, and she will draw on her experience as President of SustainUNO to design and offer workshops about creating art from trash. Brink's success comes as no surprise to Gwyneth Cliver, Ph.D., who has taught Courtney in six German classes, she said that Brink is “Intelligent, mature, confident, and kind. Courtney is an ideal candidate for being a teaching assistant. Curious about the world and people, she will take opportunities to meet members of the community, learn from her supervising teachers and students, and encounter cultural differences.”

Consider Applying for a Fulbright

Brink offers students thinking about applying for a Fulbright the following advice: “I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to spend a school year in Germany applying what I've learned at UNO, and all thanks to my incredible support system, I feel well prepared to head overseas. Dr. Gwyneth Cliver is a dedicated professor of the German language who has shared with me invaluable wisdom and expertise over the years. Dr. Lucy Morrison is an insightful mentor who made daunting tasks approachable and offered feedback that pushed my applications from average to excellent. My family has cheered me on the whole way through—despite their wishes for me to stay close by. To anyone considering applying for international programs: go for it!”

UNO students interested in exploring the amazing possibilities Fulbright offers are encouraged to connect with the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. While studying abroad may not be possible for every student or manageable in every degree plan, Fulbright has global possibilities open to all who earn their Bachelor’s degrees. With no application fees and with the costs of getting to and living in the location for a year fully funded by Fulbright, more adventures await those who want to represent their country abroad.

Previous Fulbright Grant Recipients

• Julie Cormack: English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in South Korea (2023)
• Jazmyn Cruz: ETA in Germany (2022)
• Ottilie Cooper-Ohm: ETA in Uzbekistan (2022)
• Annabelle Abisset: ETA in Argentina (2021)
• Samantha Salvatori: ETA in Kyrgyzstan (2021)
• Dalton Meister: Canada (2020)
• Gaby Amador: ETA in Spain (2019)
• Paige Cody: ETA in Taiwan (2019)
• Samantha Sack: ETA in Peru (2019)
• Judah Broekemeier: ETA in Germany (2018)
• Rani Taborek Potter: ETA in Czech Republic (2018)
• Nicole Partusch: ETA in Spain (2017)
• Hannah Gill: ETA in Poland (2017)
• Zarmina Niazie: ETA in Turkey (2016)
• Evan Kenkel: ETA in Germany (2015)
• Khalif Hassan: Study/Research in Wales (2015)
• Shelby Anderson-Holt: ETA in Turkey (2014)