Wellington’s Brad Samore, a student at the University of South Florida, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grant to Malaysia. The Fulbright ETA program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Fulbright grant will cover the costs of round-trip transportation to Malaysia and maintenance for the academic year. Samore is majoring in international studies, minoring in music, and earning a certificate in India studies with a 3.94 GPA. He is a transfer student from Palm Beach State College, where he received his associate of arts degree in music education. He will spend ten months teaching English in Malaysia. While in Malaysia, he plans to observe how rural villages are affected by environmental degradation while also building bridges across a cultural divide through the teaching of English.
Samore represents the USF College of the Arts & Sciences, where his academic achievements have been noted inside and outside of the classroom. He was awarded the National Excellence in Leadership Award in 2012 and the Outstanding Display of Leadership Award in 2011 by the National Society of Leadership and Success. Samore also received the Music Education Award from the College of Fine Arts in 2011.
Samore is a resident assistant on the Tampa campus, and in the summer of 2012 participated in an internship in Buenos Aires, Argentina with the Madres de Plaza de Mayo-Línea Fundadora, where he researched and compiled databases regarding information pertaining to the disappearances of people during Argentina’s last dictatorship. In 2011, Samore was the music director of Camp Fusion, where he developed, planned and delivered four classes of general music and guided each class to performance-level ability.
Samore has also been the vice president of the Giving Heart, a facilitator for the National Society of Leadership and Success, and activities coordinator for Community Earth at Palm Beach State College. Originally from Wellington, he is fluent in English and Spanish. After he returns to the United States from Malaysia, Samore plans to attend graduate school to study ecological anthropology to research how different cultures interact with their environment. Eventually, he wishes to work for a non-governmental organization that empowers and enables communities to eliminate dependence on non-renewable energy sources, grow community gardens and improve public transportation.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.
Above: Brad Samore
