Sam White ’23 Receives Fulbright Award
White, a political science and sustainability studies double major, will spend 10 months teaching English in Mongolia. Two other recent alumni were also named Fulbright semi-finalists.By: Meghan Kita Monday, May 13, 2024 09:23 AM
Sam White ’23 during her semester abroad in Bhutan, pictured in Paro at the Taktsang MonasteryAs a Muhlenberg student, Sam White ’23 had a transformative experience studying abroad in the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan. White spent three months in this country that sets strict limits on tourism in the interest of protecting its environment and culture. She chose Bhutan partly because of an interest in sustainable development she developed in her political science classes. Another deciding factor: the Himalayas. White, who’s from a small town in Iowa, got involved in the Rock Climbing Club and the Outdoors Club at Muhlenberg to enjoy Pennsylvania’s more varied terrain. Bhutan is the most mountainous country in the world.
“The opportunity to spend time surrounded by snow-capped mountains was so cool to me,” she says. “Mountains pose a physical obstacle to development in Bhutan. Anything that’s not able to be made or grown locally has to be shipped via flight. They’re posed with unique environmental challenges when it comes to development, but they’ve also chosen to develop in a different way than most countries. The government prioritizes cultural and environmental preservation alongside economic growth. The Bhutanese are so supportive about protecting the environment to an extent that I don't think really exists in other places.”
White on campus in Bhutan
One of the books White brought with her abroad was Into Wild Mongolia by George Schaller: “I was blown away by the landscape that was described in that book,” White says, namely the steppe (high-altitude grasslands that are home to a number of species not found elsewhere). Mongolia has some cultural and environmental similarities to Bhutan, and White began seriously considering a future Fulbright there.
White wrote a senior sociology paper on Mongolia and worked closely with Associate Professor of Religion Studies and Asian Studies and Associate Dean of Academic Life Kammie Takahashi to craft her application during and after her senior year.
White in front of a monastery called Punakha Dzong in Bhutan
“Sam is continually forging intellectual and social connections, which makes her a real asset to an educational and ambassadorial program like the Fulbright. I can easily imagine her thriving in a Mongolian school, deepening her understanding of Buddhist culture and her commitment to the environment, and developing close learning communities with her students and colleagues,” Takahashi says. “I’m really proud of the months of hard work she did on her Fulbright application and excited about the positive impact her work there is certain to make.”
White learned that she was a finalist for the award in March, and she’ll leave for her 10 months in Mongolia this fall. Her long-term goal is to work in sustainable development, but first, she’s embracing the chance to have another impactful long-term stay in a new country.
“From studying abroad, I gained a newfound appreciation for how important it is to really spend time in a place. ... I learned how important it is to get a more intimate understanding of the country that you’re spending time in.”
—Sam White ’23
“From studying abroad, I gained a newfound appreciation for how important it is to really spend time in a place. I don’t know if I’ll be able to one day just travel abroad for a couple of weeks, because I learned how important it is to get a more intimate understanding of the country that you’re spending time in,” White says. “The opportunity as a Fulbright scholar to spend an entire 10 months abroad was a huge draw for me.”
This year, two other Muhlenberg alumni were named semi-finalists for English Teaching Assistant Awards in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program:
- Grace Gault ’22, an English and media & communication double major and innovation & entrepreneurship minor, was a semi-finalist for the Czech Republic.
- Madeleine Kemo ’22, a psychology major and Latin American & Caribbean studies minor, was a semi-finalist for Spain
