Megan Coffey '12 has been awarded a one-year Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to teach English to students in South Korea. Her assistantship begins in July 2012.
Coffey is a magna cum laude graduate of Robert E. Cook Honors College and the Business Honors Program of the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology. She majored in International Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management.
Coffey's interest in South Korea began when she studied abroad for four months at Korea University Sejong Campus in Jochiwon, South Korea, during her junior year.
“Within weeks, I came to realize what a wonderful place it is,” Coffey said. “The chance to return and give something back as an English teacher is amazing. I hope I can make a difference in my students' lives and gain some fluency in Korean. This is a wonderful chance to represent my country, university, and family.”
Coffey was a provost scholar. She was a first-place winner in the Provost Essay Contest, was the Tutor of the Year: World of Difference award recipient, and was a member of the Eberly College of Business honors program and a Board of Governors scholarship recipient.
She was a member of the Small Business Institute, the American Language Institute, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology Strategic Planning Committee, Resolved for Christ Club, and the Campus Crusade for Christ. She volunteered for the Salvation Army in the Ark of Learning tutoring program, the American Red Cross, and traveled to India through the Eberly Business Honors Program.
Coffey noted that the “application process that began last Fall at IUP was really helpful in refining my application before I submitted it at the national level.”
She said she's grateful to Francis Allard, professor of Anthropology, and Janet Goebel, director of the Cook Honors College, “for the long hours they spent with me during the process,” and thanks business professors Dorothy Gracey and Joette Wisneiski and Korea University Sejong faculty member Jim Kapsalis for recommending her for the program.
“I can't wait for it to start,” she said.
Coffey is the 11th IUP student to be awarded a Fulbright since 2000.
The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program places recent college graduates and young professionals as English teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools or universities overseas. It is intended to improve foreign students' English language abilities and knowledge of the United States while increasing the American student's own language skills and knowledge of the host country.