Rebecca Schmaeling of Smithtown Awarded Prestigious Fulbright Scholarship

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Rebecca Anne Schmaeling was among the five University of Scranton graduates awarded Fulbright scholarships for the 2013-2014 academic year.

SCRANTON, PA (05/30/2013)(readMedia)-- In a banner year for an already strong tradition at The University of Scranton, five graduates have been selected for Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the 2013-2014 academic year.

University of Scranton graduates earning Fulbright awards are: Elena M. Habersky '13, Dallas, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Jordan; Shannon M. Haberzettl G'13, Dingmans Ferry, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Malaysia; Rebecca Schmaeling '13, Smithtown, N.Y., Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain; Joseph R. Seemiller '13, Lehighton, Fulbright Research Scholarship to the University of Cologne, Germany; and Jan Alexander Wessel '13, Drums, Fulbright Research Scholarship to Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary.

The Fulbright program is the U.S. government's premier scholarship program for overseas graduate study, research and teaching. For eight consecutive years, The Chronicle of Higher Education has listed The University of Scranton among the "top producers" of Fulbright awards for American students. Since 1972, a total of 144 University of Scranton students have been awarded grants in the competitions administered by the Institute of International Education.

The awards were announced recently by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The award recipients were drawn from a pool of more than 9,000 applicants nationally.

Rebecca Anne Schmaeling:

A member of the University's Honors Program, Rebecca Anne Schmaeling earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, in political science with minors in Spanish, history and communication. She received the Timothy H. Scully Award for Excellence in Political Science at commencement.

In addition to her main focus of teaching English as a foreign language an American Culture in Spain, Schmaeling plans to pair her service experience with the inspiration she found studying abroad in Morocco and working at the University's Jane Kopas Women's Center to work in a Spanish women's center, aiding local immigrant women.

Schmaeling volunteered extensively during her years at Scranton, serving as an English-as-a-second-language teacher and a food pantry volunteer for United Neighborhood Centers. She also served as a board member for Habitat for Humanity and spent two of her spring breaks volunteering for urban assignments in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

On campus, she worked at University's Jane Kopas Women's Center and as a peer tutor for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

Schmaeling excelled in the classroom, becoming a member of Pi Sigma Alpha (the political science honor society), Alpha Lambda Delta (the national freshmen honor society) and Alpha Sigma Nu (the national Jesuit honor society). She was a dean's list student for each of her semesters at Scranton. She researched and presented her honors thesis on "The European Asylum System's Response to the Arab Spring."

Schmaeling's future plans include pursuing a graduate degree in international relations and working for an international, non-governmental organization. She would ultimately like to earn a Ph.D. and teach at the university level.

A graduate of St. John the Baptist High School, Islip, N.Y., she is the daughter of John and Suzanne Schmaeling of Smithtown, N.Y.