A third Nebraska Wesleyan University student has won a Fulbright Scholarship.
Tom Schroeder, a senior political science and Spanish major from Lincoln, will teach English and American culture at a university in Turkey.
The Fulbright Scholarship is the flagship international education program sponsored by the United States government. Forty-six Nebraska Wesleyan students have now won the prestigious honor with 28 of the awards coming in the past decade.
Schroeder spent his junior year studying aboard — first in India for a faculty-led three-week study experience. He then spent a semester in Hong Kong at the Chinese University and another semester in Nicaragua at the Universidad Americana.
“I came face to face with gripping poverty, an inept government and quickly learned that I wanted to re-shift my focus to helping make a more equal and just world,” said the 2009 Lincoln Northeast graduate.
Schroeder said he became interested in Turkey after reviewing his options for the Fulbright Scholarship application.
“I hope to gain greater cultural and geopolitical knowledge of an extremely strategic region of the world,” he said.
Following a year in Turkey, Schroeder plans to pursue graduate school for a degree in international development or international education policy.
In April, seniors Samantha Wessels, an elementary education and special education major from Weeping Water, and Michael Pirnie, a political science and global studies major from Omaha, each won Fulbright Scholarships to teach English in Taiwan.
The Institute for International Education has consistently recognized NWU as one of the top national producers of Fulbright scholars.