Maki Receives Fulbright Grant, Teaches English in Spain

Maki Receives Fulbright Grant, Teaches English in Spain.

Ali Maki Photo: Willamette University

SALEM, Ore. - As a student-athlete at Willamette University the past four years, Ali Maki '09 participated in cross country and track and field. She competed at the NCAA Division III national championships in cross country three times.

In addition to athletics, she excelled in the classroom. After receiving a prestigious Fulbright grant this spring, she is teaching English at a high school in Madrid, Spain.

Her enthusiasm for Spain budded in the seventh grade when her sister studied abroad in the city of Granada. It snowballed into a full force passion when she got the chance to follow in her sister’s footsteps and spent the spring of her junior year abroad in the same city.

“When I was in Granada I did a lot of tutoring and I really enjoyed that,” Maki said. “When I came back, I found a non-profit and started teaching English to refugees. I talked to Monique Bourque in Career Services and found out you don’t need to do research for a Fulbright. You can teach also.”

Excited about the prospect of returning to Spain, Maki filled out the on-line Fulbright application, gathered three letters of recommendation, passed a language proficiency exam and wrote a purpose essay.

The people at the Fulbright Foundation loved what they saw and now Maki has returned to Spain yet again, this time for nine months.

As a Spanish and Art History double major, Maki is employing her education to start an after-school program about the history of art. As a former varsity athlete, Maki is staying active in a local soccer league – a sport she played from kindergarten to her freshman year of high school.

When she returns to the United States, Maki plans to enroll in an art history graduate program with the goal of eventually teaching the subject as a college professor.

“I’d like to look at how art has been used as a cultural tool and combine that with international relations to show how art can bridge relations and cultural gaps,” Maki said.

Maki originally planned to pursue a career as a civil engineer when she entered Willamette, but fate had other plans.

“I took a Japanese art history class taught by Professor Kevin Greenwood my freshman year and loved it. I kept taking art history classes and loved them all and eventually jumped course,” Maki said.

Now, through the help of the Fulbright grant, Maki can combine her interests: art and international education.

Fulbright grants send recent college graduates throughout the world to conduct research, work on creative projects, take classes, pursue an advanced degree or teach English. The Fulbright program coordinates the efforts of its recipients in approximately 150 countries.

For information about the Fulbright and other scholarships and grants, contact Bourque in the Student Academic Grants and Awards Office on the second floor of the Putnam University Center at Willamette.

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