Lawrence adds to Fulbright success as students receive 2025 Fulbright, USTA fellowships

One Lawrence University senior will be going abroad as the recipient of a 2025 U.S. Fulbright Program fellowship while two others will be heading to Austria as part of a fellowship program administered by Fulbright Austria.

After advancing nine Lawrentians to the semifinalist round of the prestigious U.S. Fulbright Program, Lawrence saw two seniors named finalists: Alex Stanger, a film studies and German double major from East Calais, Vermont, and Samuel Schuler, a dual degree student in history and music performance (voice) from Columbia, Maryland. Stanger will accept the award and spend the coming academic year teaching in Germany. Schuler, meanwhile, will not accept the Fulbright, instead accepting a fellowship with the U.S. Teaching Assistantship (USTA) program for Austria.

Schuler will be joined in Austria by another Lawrence senior, Mia Kraker, a music performance (violin) major from Duluth, Minnesota, who also was awarded a teaching fellowship in the USTA Austria program. 

Lawrence senior Aria Djamali and alum Dylan Coble ’24 were named Fulbright alternates, meaning they are now on a waiting list for Fulbright grants to Peru and Morocco, respectively.

Lawrence honored as a top producer of Fulbright recipients

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program. Since 1946, it has provided more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. The latest awards bring to 69 the number of Lawrence recipients since the program was first introduced. 

“These Lawrentians persevered through long and challenging application processes, and they have so much to be proud of,” said Claire Kervin, assistant professor of English and director of fellowships advising. “I know that during their time in their host countries they will grow professionally and personally and make an amazing impact on their communities.”

Stanger: Developing key skills

Stanger said a wide range of experiences as an undergraduate, including studying abroad and taking part in summer internships, led to the Fulbright. 

“I pursued the Fulbright to further develop my skills as an educator and improve my ability to be a community member who can make a positive impact in my local community,” Stanger said.

Stanger said it was Lawrence alumna Anja Pfeffer ’02, an eighth-grade teacher for a world languages course in Vermont, who first got them interested in the German language. She also told Stanger about Lawrence. 

“In this class, we learned about a few different languages and how important languages are to how we interact with each other,” Stanger said. “I got my first taste of German in that class, and along the way learned so much more. Ms. Pfeffer was that teacher for me who made all the difference in the world, and her classrooms are where I was able to start blooming into the person that I would become.”

Learn more about applying for fellowships and awards

The seeds of Stanger’s Fulbright application also included a summer internship experience last year in Bemidji, Minnesota, with the Concordia Language Village's Waldsee, an immersive language camp. 

“While creating an immersive language learning environment, I got to co-run a two-week film-making program for a group of participants to learn some film-making skills and create a short film,” Stanger said. “I got to combine both my German and film studies skills there, and it was a blast.” 

Schuler: Prepared for this moment

Schuler will be working as a teaching assistant for English at two schools in Styria, located in southern Austria. The grade levels are equivalent to middle school through high school in the U.S. 

“My basic goal will be to build my skills and experience as a prospective teacher through this opportunity,” Schuler said. 

His interest in the USTA fellowship stemmed from a summer experience in 2022.

“I took part in a seven-week summer immersion program for German at Middlebury University in Vermont, with no prior knowledge of the language other than a little experience from studying German lieder for my vocal performance degree,” he said. “There, I fell in love with the language and encountered a community mirroring Lawrence in its dedication to nurturing, yet also driving students, and its close collaboration between professors and students.”

He called the choice between USTA and Fulbright a difficult one. The USTA acceptance came first, and Schuler was intrigued by the location and opportunity, so he made that commitment.

“One of the most magical experiences that helped prepare me for this moment was getting to do a semester abroad in Vienna in the fall of 2024, thanks to the study abroad program at Lawrence,” he said. “I spent nearly 15 weeks in Vienna, and also traveled to several of the other local cities such as Graz and Linz. That experience, living in Austria, helped push me to choose the USTA, and also to see the progression of my German skills in interacting with locals and local events.”

Schuler’s studies in history and music have built a foundation he believes will elevate his USTA experience.

“History as the study of the past can also be applied to understand the present, and as a USTA fellow bringing my knowledge of the history of the U.S. to my teaching English feels vital,” he said. “Language learning isn't just the semantics of the language, but also the culture surrounding it, and that culture includes history.”

Kraker: Ready to thrive

Kraker will be working with mentors to teach English at two schools in Innsbruck, located in western Austria in the heart of the Alps. One of the schools is an upper-level secondary school with a focus on economics, business, and technical skills, and the other is an evening school similar in grade level to a high school in the U.S.

“As a German studies minor, I wanted to experience immersion in the language and culture of a German-speaking country,” Kraker said. “I was interested in studying abroad during college but ultimately decided it wasn't the best fit for me, so when thinking about what I wanted to do post-graduation, this seemed like a great opportunity to fulfill the desire to live in Europe.”

Kraker said her experiences as an undergraduate at Lawrence gave her a passion for teaching.

“The German studies program has given me a critical foundation in the German language and in understanding the culture of German-speaking countries,” she said. 

The experience she gained as a teaching assistant for the department, combined with “the broader liberal arts education that I've received,” built her confidence.

“The Lawrence values of curiosity, seeking out challenges—that drove me to apply for this program and will help me thrive in a new country and role,” she said.