Seniors Lauren Bisson and Carla Groves hope to study abroad through the Fulbright student program.

Like most seniors, Lauren Bisson and Carla Groves have plans after graduation in May 2008, but those plans may be slightly different than the traditional college graduate.

The students are applying for acceptance into the Fulbright student program, designed to give recent graduates, young professionals and artists opportunities for personal development and international experience.
    
Bisson, who will graduate with a degree in biology, submitted a proposal to monitor the populations of giant Pacific octopus along the coast of British Columbia. Groves, who will graduate with a degree in marketing and human resources management, submitted a proposal to research brain drain out of New Zealand. Brain drain is the term used to identify young professionals who shift allegiance from their homeland to a different environment for better opportunities.

Both students want to continue their studies on an international level and hope to do so through a Fulbright full grant, which will provide round-trip transportation, book and research allowances, and other expenses.
    
Because there are a limited number of grants available to students in the United States, Bisson and Groves each completed an intensive application process. Each applicant was required to do a substantial amount of research to support her proposal, condense that information to just two pages and make contacts in the desired country of study to form a partnership with
(continued from page one) a working professional in their fields of study. The process also required each student to write a one-page personal statement.
    
“To have completed the rigorous application process is commendable,” said Marie Louden-Hanes, Ph.D., dean of undergraduate education. “We applaud their efforts.”
    
Bisson and Groves will find out in January if they have made it through the first cut in the application review process. Final decisions will be made later in the spring.
    
The University has developed a good history with the Fulbright program, having hosted scholars on campus and sent UF faculty scholars to other campuses. Most recently, Murtala Bidmos, Ph.D., was on campus as a visiting specialist representing the Fulbright program “Direct Access to the Muslim World.”
    
Any senior scheduled to graduate in the fall of 2008 or the spring of 2009 who is interested in applying for a Fulbright grant is welcome to attend an information session from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 19, 2008, in the Alumni Memorial Union Endly Room. For more information, contact Louden-Hanes at 419-434-4504.