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GVSU Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients

See stories from GVSU Study Abroad Scholarship Recipients before, during & after their adventures abroad.

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Rikki Brown, Russia

Russia, 2010-11

I graduated GVSU after the culmination of my Padnos fellowship (May 2011). For the academic year 2011-2012 I served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Astrakhan, Russia. From 2012-2014 I lived in Ankara, Turkey, where I continued teaching English and spent a significant amount of time learning Turkish. This past academic year I sat on the Fulbright selection committee at GVSU; In March of 2015, I served as a fellow for the US-Russian Social Expertise Exchange and traveled to Russia for a month long in-country exchange. This fall, I started my MA in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, where I am currently residing.

My Padnos year abroad was spent in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This was definitely one of the most challenging and yet rewarding years of my life. I struggled greatly, adapting to a new culture and environment in Russia. However, my year taught me how to live abroad, how to be more aware of the culture and society around me; furthermore, I learned an abundance about Russian culture and language, and made some of the best friends I currently have today. Padnos set me up for further success in academia and I’m certain that my year in Russia facilitated my nomination for a Fulbright Fellowship and admission into numerous graduate programs.

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