School of Education students Julianne Strauss ’23, G’24 and Elizabeth Vanek G’24 are among 14 Syracuse University students and alumni named as 2024 recipients of awards through the Fulbright US Student Program. Five students were also chosen as alternates. This is the largest number of US Student Fulbright recipients that Syracuse University has had in one year.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program funds a range of awards that include English teaching assistantships (ETA) and study/research grants in over 140 countries.
Vanek is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s degree student and will travel to Spain. Strauss is a graduate of the Inclusive Elementary and Special Education program and a graduate student in the Literacy Education program. During her Fulbright year, Strauss will be an English teaching assistant in the La Rioja region of Spain.
“I hope to find ways to promote inclusive education within the classrooms I teach in and in the school community,” says Strauss. “I also want to instill a love of reading in my students and use inclusive children’s literature that I read in my own US classrooms to promote English learning.”
Strauss, who studied in Madrid during her junior year through Syracuse Abroad, hopes to grow as a Spanish speaker and immerse herself in Spanish culture. “I have not had the chance to visit this region previously, so I want to explore all of my new home,” she says.
She says she plans to use this Fulbright year as a chance to expand her teaching experiences to students who are learning English as a second language: “I want to bring this experience home and draw upon it to support my future students in the Central New York or New York City region.”