Three recent global studies graduates have accepted grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which will enables them to pursue international education, research, and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year.
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.
Kaleigh Mueller, of Chicago, received her bachelor’s degree in global studies from Illinois this spring and will teach English in South Korea. Mueller has been an avid learner of the Korean language, self-teaching during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic while a student at The Chicago High School for the Arts before taking formal classes in college. She spent a study abroad term at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, and earned a minor in East Asian language from Illinois. Yet what fueled her curiosity about the language most came from exchanges with a Korean pen pal, allowing her to develop a sense of Korean language from a native speaker while also forming her early experience in teaching English. After spending her academic career learning from and working with experts who are passionate about their field of study, Mueller intends to earn a PhD following her Fulbright experience and pursue a professorship in sociolinguistics.
Karel Pene, of Evanston, Ill., earned bachelor’s degrees in global studies and psychology this spring and will use her Fulbright award to teach English in South Korea. As a first-generation immigrant from Cameroon who attended Evanston Township High School, she is fluent in French and learning Swahili in addition to Korean. Pene previously studied in South Korea in 2024 at Chungnam National University as an awardee of the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. She received the Foreign Language Scholarship in 2025 for a semester of study at Yonsei University, where she studied Korean law and history and volunteered as an English assistant for a North Korean human rights organization. Pene also interned at a Korean technology company to deepen her familiarity with the culture and the use of sustainable technology in the country. Her future goals include working professionally in South Korea, leveraging her language skills and interests in sustainability to aid international organizations in achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development benchmarks, and supporting positive relations between South Korea and African countries.
Nina Stepaniants, of Gurnee, Ill., earned a bachelor’s degree in global studies and a minor in French from Illinois. Stepaniants will teach English in Armenia, which holds a special significance for her as she has an Armenian father. She grew up in a bilingual Russian/English household and visited Armenia while in high school at Lake Forest High. She seeks to continue building her English teaching skills in support of her passion for helping refugees and migrants as they integrate into new communities. Stepaniants has taught English to refugee populations — both on campus and in her hometown — for multiple organizations, such as Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America. After teaching in Armenia, she plans to build welcoming communities for refugees, working in case management for local nonprofits to make an impact at the community level. She also will pursue a master’s degree and a career in advocacy in order to foster more large-scale change at a national and international level.