Jessica Ferronetti ’18 Awarded Distinguished Fulbright Grant
Assumption senior Jessica Ferronetti, of Andover, has received a Fulbright award for the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program in Argentina. The grant will enable Ferronetti to teach English in local classrooms while serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States. She is one of a select number of Assumption students awarded this prestigious designation.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for ETA programs. According to Fulbright, during their one academic year or service, “Fulbrighters meet, work, live with, and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.”
Ferronetti, a double major in Spanish and middle/secondary education with a minor in psychology, is currently student teaching both college prep and honors Spanish at Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough as part of her degree requirements. Last summer, she spent the summer in Buenos Aires teaching English and Spanish to students aged eight through 17 at two different Assumptionist schools, an internship program offered by the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department at Assumption. She will resume her educational efforts in Argentina, only this time as a Fulbright, in March 2019.
“It means so much for me to be awarded a Fulbright ETA,” said Ferronetti. “While in Argentina, I hope to learn how to better teach English to non-native speakers, improve my Spanish-speaking skills, and learn more about Argentinian history and culture.”
Ferronnetti plans to pursue a high school Spanish teacher position and eventually earn her Ph.D. in Spanish.
“Through her dedication to her academic programs, Jessica was well-positioned as a candidate for the ETA Fulbright in Argentina,” said Thomas Wheatland, Ph.D., associate professor of history who worked with Ferronetti on her Fulbright application. “With her expertise and experience in Spanish, teaching, and community service, as well as an internship in Argentina this past summer, Jessica made a compelling case for how the Fulbright would benefit her growth and future ambitions—but as importantly, she demonstrated how she would make an impact in Argentina as an English teacher and cultural ambassador. She is an impressive student and a fabulous human being.”
According to the Fulbright Program, which aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers. They include 59 Nobel Laureates, 82 Pulitzer Prize winners, 71 MacArthur Fellows, 16 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Since its inception in 1946, more than 380,000 individuals have participated in the Program.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program enables more than 1,700 U.S. citizens to study, teach, and conduct research abroad each year. This exchange program is sponsored by the U.S. government and designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The program operates in more than 140 countries.