Friday, April 12, 2002
Her work will begin this summer following graduation.
GROVE CITY, Pa.-- Nicole R. Rudolph of Seneca, Pa., a Grove City College senior, has been named a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship winner and will teach English in South Korea.
The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and was created in 1946 under legislation sponsored by former Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those in other countries. Rudolph, a history and French major with a minor in English, will go to South Korea after graduation, probably in June or July.
Earlier trips: It won't be her first trip to that nation.
She spent the summer of 2000 studying at the Seoul Women's University as part of the Bahrom International Program.
She's also studied abroad in France, spending the fall 2000 semester at L'Universite Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France.
She plans to study for a doctorate in European history after her Fubright work.
A key moment: Rudolph said she realized what her life's calling would be while she stood on the demarcation line between North and South Korea with a group of students from Bulgaria and Russia during her previous visit to South Korea.
She said she was struck by the animosity apparent among the soldiers at the border as opposed to the camaraderie among the group of students.
"Misunderstandings had escalated to the point where peaceable solutions seemed unattainable and strangely naive. Then I realized my life's calling: I would use personal and professional relationships to bridge such gaps by fostering mutual understanding between cultures," she wrote in her Fulbright application.
Rudolph is a Presidential Scholar at Grove City and has been tapped for membership by several educational groups, including the Mortar Board national honor society.
Grove City College will present her with its International Award May 4.