Kate Buche-Pattison, Class of 2018, earns Fulbright grant for 2021-22 academic year : Earlham College

Kate Buche-Pattison has become the latest Earlhamite to earn a prestigious Fulbright grant. Hers came as part of United States’ flagship international academic exchange program.

Buche-Pattison earned degrees in English and comparative languages and linguistics with a focus on German and Spanish from Earlham in 2018. She has worked as a bilingual classroom assistant with Indianapolis Public Schools since graduation. Her Fulbright grant will take her to Rostock, Germany, where she will serve as an English language teaching assistant for the 2021-22 academic year.

“My interest in teaching abroad grew slowly,” Buche-Pattison said. “While at Earlham I wasn’t specifically interested in education, but studying Spanish and honing my speaking abilities while studying abroad in Ecuador allowed me to get my bilingual classroom assistant job with Indianapolis Public Schools, which was where my interest in education was born.”

Five other graduating seniors or recent graduates from Earlham were semi-finalists for Fulbrights this spring in support of independent research proposals or English language teaching assistant positions around the world. They include Jasmine Lorenzana ’21, Emma Milner-Gorvine ’21, Avery Salerno ’21, Ian Shriner ’21, and Tyler Tolman ’18.

“I am so grateful that Earlham continued to foster my love for living and traveling abroad through the many international travel opportunities I was given as an undergraduate student.”

— Kate Buche-Pattison

Since 1999, 37 students or recent graduates have earned the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, and Earlham has long been recognized among the nation’s best for producing outstanding candidates for the award. In fact, the Chronicle for Higher Education recognized Earlham in both 2012 and 2014 as one of the nation’s top Fulbright-producing institutions.

Buche-Pattison said mentorship from Elana Passman, Earlham’s Fulbright liaison and associate professor of history, was an important resource in her pursuit of the scholarship. So was her self-designed internship with RAA Berlin, an educational nonprofit in Germany, which was funded by the Earlham in 2017 and supported by Margaret Hampton, professor emeritus of German.

“I was never lucky enough to take a class with Elana at Earlham, though now I wish I had made time to do so, since she has been such a pleasure to get to know, as well as being an important resource in the Fulbright application process, and a huge reason I was ultimately accepted as a grantee,” she said. “I am so grateful that Earlham continued to foster my love for living and traveling abroad through the many international travel opportunities I was given as an undergraduate student.”