Riley Parks, from Fisher, Ill., graduated from Illinois in May with a bachelor’s degree in English along with a minor in secondary education. She will use her Fulbright award to teach English in Taiwan — another step in her journey to become an interculturally skilled teacher. Parks, who attended Fisher Jr./Sr. High School, studied in Asia previously as a winner of the Gilman International Scholarship, teaching K-6 students in an urban school in Thailand. Working with these students cemented her desire to become a teacher and to apply for a more extensive teaching experience through the Fulbright program. Parks has received a graduate fellowship from the University of Washington to study early childhood education administration and policy upon her return from Taiwan. She plans to incorporate Taiwanese teaching methods in American public school classrooms and create a pen pal or extracurricular program that will allow for cross-cultural communication between her current U.S. students and her previous students in Taiwan.
Parks was one of nine University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates to be offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research, and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year.
“The Fulbright program provides opportunities not just around the globe, but across disciplines,” said David Schug, director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “Our Illinois recipients are pursuing careers in law, medicine, and education. They are future environmentalists, immigration specialists, and professors, all seeking to enrich their profession and better support others with their Fulbright experiences.”
Seven of the awardees have accepted grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which builds international relationships to help solve global challenges. This flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government awards grants to students based on their academic and professional achievement as well as their ambassadorial skills and leadership potential. The Fulbright student program will fund more than 2,000 U.S. citizens to live abroad for the 2026-27 academic year.
Editor's note: A version of this story was originally published by the Illinois News Bureau, which includes the full list of Fulbright award recipients.