Morris Selected For Fulbright Award To Teach
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Andrew Morris, son of Rick and Ronda, and a 2008 graduate of WCHS and a Indiana University senior, was selected for a U.S. Student Fulbright award for 2012-2013 to Germany.
“Certainly, he’s worked very hard and is deserving of the Fulbright,” said Rick Morris, Andrew’s father, Thursday morning.
Rick said Andrew spent his junior year in Germany. He has wanted to get back there and teach. Andrew has done a lot of international travel.
Rick said 140 U.S. students got the Fulbright to go to Germany to teach. Only 20 of those, including Andrew, were selected for the diversity component of the Fulbright. With that component, Rick said Andrew will probably go to teach at a German school that is very diverse.
“I’ll be put into a school with children with more immigration backgrounds. It should be interesting,” Andrew said in a telephone interview Friday.
“We’re very, very proud,” Rick said. “He’s worked very hard.”
Andrew said he started the Fulbright application process back in August when he got back from Germany. He was notified in early January that he was moving on to the next round.
For the next round, he had to apply in German. He had his friends in Germany read over his application before submitting it.
This month, Andrew said, he heard back that he had been accepted.
“My first thought was I won’t be throwing my life away after all,” Andrew joked.
He said he was really excited to get the notification and it just relieved a lot of stress that had built up because he wasn’t sure what he was going to do after graduation.
Along with having to write several different essays, the application process required that Andrew get three particular letters of recommendation. As Andrew will be working with high school students in Germany, he needed to talk to a lot of different people.
One of his recommendations came from WCHS teacher Steve Henn.
In an e-mail provided by Henn about Andrew, Henn said, “He’s a bright, inquisitive, personable young man who has made the most of his educational opportunities at I.U. and in Germany. I couldn’t think of a better ambassador from Warsaw or from Indiana to share what it’s like in this area with students in Germany. I look forward to hearing of Andrew’s adventures as an English teacher and I know he’ll represent us well. I couldn’t think of a better young man who could be given this opportunity than Andrew.”
Andrew also got letters of recommendation from local teacher Lisa Valentine, and a professor and mentor from Germany.
He said his interest in Germany started in high school. He got involved with a family in Warsaw who had come from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. His senior year in high school, Andrew said his family had a German student stay with them.
At I.U., Andrew started German courses, and then stayed in Germany his junior year.
When applying for the Fulbright, Andrew said he thought about going other places, but he really likes Germany, its culture, food and language a lot. Plus, it was more practical to go with what he knew.
“I really like it,” Andrew said of Germany. “I like the culture. The food is really good.”
At the end of July, Andrew will leave to take a short-term position at a camp in Switzerland. The actual Fulbright program then starts in September in Germany.
“It should be really cool,” Andrew said.[[In-content Ad]]According to the official website, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
The Fulbright Program provides participants – chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential – with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Grants are available for U.S. citizens to go abroad and for non-U.S. citizens with no U.S. permanent residence to come to the U.S.
The Fulbright Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
The primary source of the funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.
The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals.
Approximately 310,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the program since its inception in 1946. Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
Andrew also was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa at I.U. for the class of 2012, according to information provided by Rick. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest academic honor society in existence, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Throughout its long history the primary objective of Phi Beta Kappa has been the recognition of excellence in the academic performance of undergraduate students in the liberal arts and sciences in American Colleges and Universities.
Latest News
E-Editions
Andrew Morris, son of Rick and Ronda, and a 2008 graduate of WCHS and a Indiana University senior, was selected for a U.S. Student Fulbright award for 2012-2013 to Germany.
“Certainly, he’s worked very hard and is deserving of the Fulbright,” said Rick Morris, Andrew’s father, Thursday morning.
Rick said Andrew spent his junior year in Germany. He has wanted to get back there and teach. Andrew has done a lot of international travel.
Rick said 140 U.S. students got the Fulbright to go to Germany to teach. Only 20 of those, including Andrew, were selected for the diversity component of the Fulbright. With that component, Rick said Andrew will probably go to teach at a German school that is very diverse.
“I’ll be put into a school with children with more immigration backgrounds. It should be interesting,” Andrew said in a telephone interview Friday.
“We’re very, very proud,” Rick said. “He’s worked very hard.”
Andrew said he started the Fulbright application process back in August when he got back from Germany. He was notified in early January that he was moving on to the next round.
For the next round, he had to apply in German. He had his friends in Germany read over his application before submitting it.
This month, Andrew said, he heard back that he had been accepted.
“My first thought was I won’t be throwing my life away after all,” Andrew joked.
He said he was really excited to get the notification and it just relieved a lot of stress that had built up because he wasn’t sure what he was going to do after graduation.
Along with having to write several different essays, the application process required that Andrew get three particular letters of recommendation. As Andrew will be working with high school students in Germany, he needed to talk to a lot of different people.
One of his recommendations came from WCHS teacher Steve Henn.
In an e-mail provided by Henn about Andrew, Henn said, “He’s a bright, inquisitive, personable young man who has made the most of his educational opportunities at I.U. and in Germany. I couldn’t think of a better ambassador from Warsaw or from Indiana to share what it’s like in this area with students in Germany. I look forward to hearing of Andrew’s adventures as an English teacher and I know he’ll represent us well. I couldn’t think of a better young man who could be given this opportunity than Andrew.”
Andrew also got letters of recommendation from local teacher Lisa Valentine, and a professor and mentor from Germany.
He said his interest in Germany started in high school. He got involved with a family in Warsaw who had come from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. His senior year in high school, Andrew said his family had a German student stay with them.
At I.U., Andrew started German courses, and then stayed in Germany his junior year.
When applying for the Fulbright, Andrew said he thought about going other places, but he really likes Germany, its culture, food and language a lot. Plus, it was more practical to go with what he knew.
“I really like it,” Andrew said of Germany. “I like the culture. The food is really good.”
At the end of July, Andrew will leave to take a short-term position at a camp in Switzerland. The actual Fulbright program then starts in September in Germany.
“It should be really cool,” Andrew said.[[In-content Ad]]According to the official website, the Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
The Fulbright Program provides participants – chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential – with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Grants are available for U.S. citizens to go abroad and for non-U.S. citizens with no U.S. permanent residence to come to the U.S.
The Fulbright Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
The primary source of the funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.
The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Roughly 1,600 U.S. students, 4,000 foreign students, 1,200 U.S. scholars, and 900 visiting scholars receive awards, in addition to several hundred teachers and professionals.
Approximately 310,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the program since its inception in 1946. Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
Andrew also was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa at I.U. for the class of 2012, according to information provided by Rick. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest academic honor society in existence, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Throughout its long history the primary objective of Phi Beta Kappa has been the recognition of excellence in the academic performance of undergraduate students in the liberal arts and sciences in American Colleges and Universities.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092