University of New Mexico student Matthew Garcia was recently notified that he has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship to Spain where he will teach English as a foreign language. He will teach in Madrid at CEIP Rufino Blanco, a grade 6-12 secondary school. In addition to teaching, he will be conducting research on immigration, assimilation and identity issues.
“I will also be conducting an after school creative writer’s forum as a volunteer project to work with immigrant and local children as a means of examining the huge influx of immigrants and the resultant identity issues that arise when the cultures mix. My goal is to help these youth relate to the world around them,” he said.
Garcia worked at Isleta Pueblo as a youth advocate and court representative last year.
Garcia worked briefly as a substitute teacher for the Albuquerque Public Schools, which makes this his first real teaching experience. The reason he didn’t teach longer was because adventure beckoned.
“I left the country at the time to drive from Albuquerque through Mexico and into Central America. On that trip I went to Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Bolivia,” he said, adding that he only got as far as Belize by car before seeking other means of travel.
Garcia, an Albuquerque native, is a graduate of Valley Academy at Valley High School. He grew up in the North Valley with parents Robin Garcia and Joseph A. Garcia.
Garcia’s reason to pursue the Fulbright is that it allows him to “continue pursuing my passions.”
“Curiosity, travel and cultural investigation have always inspired me and pushed me through school and my personal pursuits. I have always wanted to live in Spain and learn about the culture and people firsthand,” he said.
The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its inception in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 279,500 people globally – including 105,400 Americans – who have studied, taught or researched abroad. The program operates in more than 150 countries.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, call the UNM Office of International Programs and Studies at 277-4032.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at August 23, 2007 04:42 PM