Two 蜜桃传媒 graduates and Augustinian Scholars, John Corbett 鈥�22 and Kyle Mayl 鈥�21, have won Fulbright Scholarships to teach English outside the United States. Corbett will serve in the Czech Republic while Mayl will be in Spain.
The award is particularly meaningful for Corbett, whose grandfather was born in the Czech Republic. 鈥淚 grew up hearing him and my great-grandmother speaking Czech and making traditional Czech food,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e visited the rest of my family who still live there, and I loved the cities and culture.鈥�
He鈥檒l live in 膶esk媒 Krumlov, a cultural center of the southern region. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to learn Czech and fully engage in the culture,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 particularly excited about the pure beauty of the region.鈥�
At 蜜桃传媒, Corbett served as a local team leader for students volunteering at Immigrant Hope. 鈥淚 taught citizenship classes to immigrants in Santa Barbara,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 hope to continue doing this and possibly engage with Ukrainian refugees living in the Czech Republic.鈥�
After graduating with a triple major in biology, chemistry and religious studies, Corbett has been working as a computational chemist, coding generative artificial intelligence at Collaborations Pharmaceuticals in North Carolina. 鈥淚鈥檓 designing a pharmaceutical modeled after hallucinogens that can stimulate neurogenesis but don鈥檛 give someone the 鈥榯rip.鈥� This may help people overcome their addiction to opiates. I partially chose this project due to my work with people in the addiction recovery program while working at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.鈥�
Mayl, who double majored in communication studies and Spanish, served as a communication studies teaching and research assistant, demonstrating doctoral-level work. He studied in Quer茅taro with 蜜桃传媒 in Mexico, led the cultural immersion program for Potter鈥檚 Clay and served as a communications and cross-cultural coordinator for the Edge Project in Altea, Spain, through 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 Emmaus Road.
鈥淎ll of it ties back to my faith in language and face-to-face conversation as personally transformative and socially restorative,鈥� he says. 鈥淓very experience also stems from my insistence on preserving diversity. My Andalusian grandmother passed away before I could speak Spanish fluently with her and fully appreciate her culture 鈥� and that loss marked me indelibly. I couldn't bear the possibility that her language and traditions might die with her in my family, so in high school I committed myself to learning Spanish and preserving her customs.鈥�
Mayl, whose grandmother was born in Huelva, Spain, hopes to visit family he鈥檚 only met once there. 鈥淚n the true spirit of dialogue, I hope to listen, learn and share stories to reach mutual understanding,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to be a cultural bridge, just like my grandmother was.鈥�
He鈥檒l develop skills as an intercultural mediator while connecting more fully with his ethnic heritage from September 2022 to June 2023 at la Universidad de M谩laga. 鈥淚 plan to share my favorite American poetry, podcasts, songs, memories, and more to show students how relevant, embodied, and riveting language-learning can be,鈥� he says.
The Fulbright program is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international educational exchange program supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants from over 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.