VCU Senior Christa Hoskins Awarded Fulbright
Hoskins ’19 has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to South Korea
Contact: V. Renee Russell
VCU Global Education Office
Phone: (804) 828-3636
vrrussell@vcu.edu
global.vcu.edu
Richmond, VA (May 8, 2019) — Virginia Commonwealth University senior Christa Hoskins has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to South Korea. Hoskins, a history major and Asian and Chinese studies minor in the College of Humanities and Sciences, will depart in July for the year-long assistantship, which she can choose to renew for an additional two years. She will teach English classes at the primary school level.
Part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) programs place grant recipients in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to the local English teachers. ETAs help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the U.S.
“Teaching English as a second language in a Korean classroom will offer me an opportunity to engage with a younger generation, and see Korea and the outside world through their eyes,” said Hoskins.
Hoskins plans to incorporate non-verbal activities such as drawing into her teaching, to promote creative expression and shed light on different aspects of American and Korean culture. “As a passionate artist, creating and sharing art as a form of self-expression will serve as a way for me to bond with my students through a medium independent of language,” she said.
Being in another country for an extended period will not be foreign to Hoskins. While at VCU, she fully embraced the international aspects of her education, enrolling in the VCU Globe living-learning program and studying abroad five times. She participated in three different semester exchange programs—in Sichuan, China; Seoul, South Korea; and Hong Kong, and two short-term VCU Globe programs to VCUarts Qatar and Japan.
“Being immersed in an international environment throughout much of my academic career has not only given me more awareness of my placement in the world, but has also stirred in me a calling to become a valuable participant in the world conversation,” she said. “Participating in an international living and learning environment while being encouraged to facilitate cross-cultural relationships in VCU Globe has given me the tools I need to make the most of this opportunity.”
Hoskins views her assistantship as a way to extend the global foundation that she has laid through academics. “I was inspired to apply for a Fulbright in South Korea because I wanted to be able to engage in experiences integral to my passions and skills,” she said. “Returning to Korea as a Fulbright grantee will give me the opportunity to continue to bridge cultural barriers, to grow as an artist and to bring my skills to the people I meet and come to know.”
“Spending meaningful time in Asia during my past five years as an undergraduate has prepared me for this exciting experience,” she says. “I am overjoyed to be moving back to northeast Asia and I look forward to this new adventure.”
Hoskins and other applicants work with VCU’s National Scholarship Office to apply for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship. Contact the National Scholarship Office at natlscholar@vcu.edu.