(Posted July 1, 2010)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Maura Collins, a senior at Juniata College from Corning, N.Y. studying elementary and special education, was offered a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English as a Second Language in Turkey for the 2010-2011 academic year by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Collins, the daughter of Sarah and Dan Collins, of Corning, N.Y., is part of a program that sends more than 1,000 students abroad to study at foreign universities and sites. Collins, who had been named a Fulbright Alternate earlier this summer, turned down the fellowship in favor of a teaching job. Collins received a bachelor's degree from Juniata in May. She is a 2006 graduate of Corning-Painted Post West High School.

Collins, who is currently student teaching at an elementary school and high school in the Huntingdon Area School District, is certified as an English as Second Language instructor. She earned her certification in 2008 during a summer program in Otavalo, Ecuador.

Collins, a four-year varsity soccer athlete at Juniata, proposed in her Fulbright application to volunteer and overseas youth football (soccer) association.

In addition to her soccer career at Juniata, Collins was named to the fall 2009 Landmark Conference All-Academic Team.

Collins remains active on the Juniata campus. She is a member of Juniata Instructors of the Future, the college's student education club, where she served as vice president in 2008-2009 and as co-president in 2009-2010. She also is very involved in the Juniata Activities Board. This year, she was co-chair of the college's Madrigal committee and chair of the Major Event committee.

She has been named to Omicron Delta Kappa, the national student honor society, and also was named to the Juniata Honor Society. She also is a member of Pi Lambda Theta, the educational honor society.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program equips future American leaders with the skills they need to thrive in increasingly global environment by providing funding for one academic year of study or research abroad, to be conducted after graduation from an accredited university.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Financial support is provided by an annual appropriation from Congress to the Department of State, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions in the United States and abroad. The presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board formulates policy guidelines and makes the final selection of all grantees.

The Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. Student Program, including an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to American teachers and faculty to do research, lecture and teach overseas. In addition, some 2,200 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, carry out research and lecture at U.S. universities, colleges and secondary schools.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.