Bowdoin was again lauded as one of the top Fulbright-producing institutions for the 2018-2019 academic year, with 19 students receiving Fulbright Student grants. Among Bachelor’s institutions, only Williams had more awardees, with 22.

Thirty-seven Bowdoin students had applied for Fulbright awards, yielding a 51 percent success rate. Among all colleges and universities, only Smith College—which had 17 grantees out of 31 applicants—did better. Overall, 22 percent of Fulbright applicants receive grants according to program data, although the percentage varies widely by country.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program places recent graduates, as well as graduate students, in research and teaching positions in more than 140 countries. Bowdoin’s recipients are now working in Indonesia, Taiwan, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Malaysia.

Phoebe Thompson ’18 was one of the students who received an English teaching assistant grant. An Earth and Oceanographic Science and Hispanic Studies double major, she now teaches young children in Valle Gran Rey, a small town in the Canary Islands, the Spanish volcanic archipelago located off the coast of Morocco.

“I have to laugh sometimes because it feels like this experience was tailor-made for me,” she wrote in a message to the Orient.

Thompson credited the Office of Student Fellowships and Research, particularly Assistant Director of Co-Curricular Opportunities Kate Myall and Director of Student Fellowships and Research Cindy Stocks, for guiding her through the application process.

“We laughed together, we cried together and they were with me every step of the way,” Thompson wrote. “They understand the process and the program, and do their jobs with incredible efficiency and soul.”