{"id":920,"date":"2019-07-17T18:19:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/teaching-leads-vas-to-a-fulbright-scholarship\/"},"modified":"2020-10-12T20:03:14","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T20:03:14","slug":"teaching-leads-vas-to-a-fulbright-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/teaching-leads-vas-to-a-fulbright-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"WCSU 2017 – Teaching leads Vas to Fulbright"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n \"Allison<\/p>\n

DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Allison Vas loves to travel, and now she is looking forward to spending nine months in Europe on a Fulbright scholarship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Vas, an Elementary Education major with a concentration in English, won the assignment of teaching English at a primary school in Estonia starting in September 2017. She is the latest Western Connecticut State University<\/a> student to become a Fulbright scholar. Previous awardees have studied the church organ in France, socio-political issues in Haiti, folk music in Estonia and social entrepreneurship, also in Estonia.<\/p>\n

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The Estonia connection comes from Dr. Chris Kukk, a WestConn political science professor who himself was a Fulbright scholar who studied in Estonia, his family\u2019s historical country of origin.<\/p>\n

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Vas insists that is not why she ended up in Estonia. Instead, the small country in Eastern Europe became her destination of choice after she created a spreadsheet of countries that offered Fulbright teaching assistantships. Another factor she considered was the competition, although she didn\u2019t do herself any favors in that regard.<\/p>\n

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Taiwan was in the running until Vas realized that educators there would accept up to 80 teaching scholars. Estonia had only one slot, and Vas decided to apply for that one.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEstonia really was the one I wanted to work in,\u201d Vas said. \u201cMy family thought I was crazy because there was only one position, but Estonia\u2019s education system is supposed to be like Finland\u2019s, which is held up as a model. I wanted to learn more about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright program is the largest United States international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. <\/p>\n

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As a WestConn student, Vas was busy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition to her studies, she was a member of the Student Government Association for four years, spending one as vice president of Internal Affairs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She helped organize the WCSU Relay for Life fundraiser in support of cancer research for four years, including the past year as chair.<\/p>\n

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She was an active member of the Kathwari Honors Program<\/a> as well as an orientation leader for first-year students and a mentor in the residence halls.<\/p>\n

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Vas was a member of the Education Club<\/a> and the Newman Club<\/a>, with which she made mission trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. She also traveled to Louisiana with Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n

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And she earned a 3.94 GPA.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to develop so many communities within the one university community,\u201d Vas said. \u201cI always take on more than I can handle. I guess that\u2019s the teacher side of me. I have a lot of interests pulling me every which way, and I\u2019m always wishing there were more hours in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In her senior year, Vas was a student teacher in a fifth-grade class in Danbury\u2019s Ellsworth School. \u201cIt was an incredibly positive experience,\u201d Vas said. \u201cIt made me more confident and more convinced I wanted to be a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Her long-term goals include studying federal or international education policy as it affects citizens on an everyday basis.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation influences everything \u2014 women\u2019s rights, the economy, health,\u201d Vas said. \u201cI\u2019d like to look at how different countries develop their education systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As a senior at Danbury High School, where her father teaches Social Studies, Vas applied to several universities, and reports she is happy with her choice of WestConn.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI wouldn\u2019t change a thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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