www.macee.org.my

Nou Chang was born in Thailand but grew up in Rochester, MN.  She is a 2010 graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN with majors in Biology and English and a minor in Religion.  Nou loves to travel, and has gone on many study abroad trips to Asia, Mexico, and Central America where she was a member of a medical mission team. She has a deep interest in individual and community health, and spends the majority of her time volunteering with local hospitals and organizations.  She was involved with developing and implementing a community service project for homeless Hmong refugee children and was a nutrition education teacher to 1st through 6th graders. Nou has worked in many different positions including as an administrative assistant to a pharmacy benefit management company called Prime Therapeutics, and most recently, as a study research assistant at Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Nou’s Fulbright will be to Malaysia on an English Teaching Assistantship grant.  She hopes that she will contribute to the development of proficiency in the English language among students in Malaysia and in the sharing and understanding of the U.S. and Malaysia culture and customs.  Her experience in Malaysia will greatly contribute to her future career, which is to be competent international medical doctor.

Lynn ElHarake is a native of Beckley, West Virginia. A Class of 2010 graduate from Duke University, Lynn double majored in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy and Arabic.  While at Duke, she participated and held leadership positions in a number of organizations, most notably: Vice President of Administration for Kappa Alpha Theta sorority; Head Facilitator for LEAPS, a service-learning organization that aims to bring together philanthropy and academics; and Special Events Chair of the Duke-UNC Basketball Marathon, an annual philanthropic event held to raise money for special-needs children in North Carolina. Lynn also tutored beginner and intermediate level Arabic students at Duke University as well as students from surrounding high schools.

Lynn spent a summer in Cape Town, South Africa, working for the Treatment Action Campaign, the leading HIV/AIDS advocacy organization in Africa. She also spent her senior year as a research assistant for a grant proposal that- if accepted- will focus on assessing HIV/AIDS infection rates and suggesting prevention strategies for sex workers and their male partners in Beirut, Lebanon. Lynn is currently working as a research assistant to the Dean of Health Sciences the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Her experiences there have included conducting extensive literary analysis on the topic of ‘war and health;’ assisting with community health voluntary training workshops and projects; and conducting surveys concerning the Lebanese youth perspective on prescription drug use/abuse. In regards to future professional goals, Lynn is planning to pursue a masters degree and/or PhD in either public health or development work. Eventually, she hopes to find (or create) a career that allows her to combine her passions for health advocacy, community development, and traveling.

Anirudh Rajashekar is a 2010 graduate of Amherst College majoring in History and Economics.  He was born in India, but has grown up in Indonesia, Singapore and California.  Anirudh has worked in my different industries including advertising, finance and non-profit work.  He spent his most recent summer teaching English to children between the ages of 12 and 16.  Anirudh is passionate about international affairs and history, and hopes to eventually work as a civil servant for the US government.

In his freetime, Anirudh is an avid sportsperson, and divides his time playing cricket or watching soccer.  He is a die-hard Tottenham Hotspur fan and believes that Harry Redknapp will guide the team to
Champions League glory in the near future.

Elise Russell is a 2010 graduate of the University of Rochester and a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin.  She graduated with a major in Psychology and a strong interest in cross-cultural psychology, having studied abroad several times in Europe, the Caribbean, and Kenya.  She has worked with young children in a variety of settings, such as day cares and a therapeutic after-school program, and has been involved with research in personality psychology, child development and maltreatment, and the structure and function of Kenyan lullabies.

Elise’s Fulbright work centers on immersive English language instruction to high school students in the Terengganu Province.  She hopes to inspire the young people in her classroom to explore not only a new language, but also the rich opportunities and cultural variety of the global community that it opens up to them.

Dakari has served as a peer mentor, grade school leader, and advisor to kids aging from 10 to 19 while at college. He was a key proprietor in contributing to the growth of a Baltimore school mentoring program, Morgan Mentors Winston Winners. During his summers away from school, he served as a camp counselor in Summer Fun, a program designed to help kids with reading, writing, and arithmetic as well as educational field trips. Dakari realizes that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and is honored to be able to learn and teach while abroad. He hopes to gain a wealth of knowledge from a diverse and beautiful community and students while in Malaysia.

Elizabeth Williams is a Los Angeles, CA native and 2010 Pitzer College graduate with a B.A. in Sociology and Africana Studies. While at Pitzer, she was an active volunteer tutor and workshop facilitator at Camps Afflerbaugh-Paige, a juvenile detention center for young men 13-18 through Pitzer’s Center for California Cultural and Social Issues. She was selected to be a Ronald E. McNair Scholar at Claremont Graduate University, and completed a research project that explored the effectiveness of education in the juvenile justice system in reducing recidivism rates amongst minority youth. In fall 2008, Elizabeth was a visiting student at Howard University and she studied abroad spring 2009 on the Pitzer College in Botswana program. Elizabeth served as the president of the Black Student Union at Pitzer College and a member of the Pan-African Student Association of the Claremont Colleges.

Most recently, Elizabeth works as an intern with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California’s Jails Project reentry pilot program where she is assisting with the creation of a civics and advocacy training curriculum for inmates’ families. In the summer 2010 she was a servant-leader intern with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School Program at First New Christian Fellowship Church in Los Angeles, CA. Elizabeth is very excited to begin her Fulbright Fellowship as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia. Upon returning home, she plans to pursue a Masters in Social Work with the goal of becoming a social worker engaged in policymaking.

Andrea Williamson is from Atlanta, Georgia.  In 2007,  she graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL with a major in Art History and a minor in Writing.  While in college, Andrea studied abroad in Australia and gained an in-depth look at Aboriginal and Pacific Art.  She also spent a summer working on an archaeological excavation in Troia, Portugal.  Outside of the classroom, Andrea devoted most of her time to service learning, interning at local museums, and mentoring students.

Upon graduation, Andrea began working as an Admission Counselor at Rollins and began her Masters in Business Administration at the Crummer Graduate School of Business. She graduated in 2010 with concentrations in Management and Marketing.  Andrea is grateful for the opportunity to become an English Teaching Assistant in Terengganu.  She hopes to research how varying cultures in Malaysia express themselves through art and visual representations.

Kelley M. Whitson was born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in December 2009. During the fall semester of her junior year, Kelley studied abroad in Peru. While in Peru, she was able to teach conversational English to adult and adolescent domestic workers, and to conduct research on the access to education for Peruvian domestic workers.

She learned early in her life that education provides the foundation for success and that foundation is something that can never be taken away. Kelley’s life experiences and her love of people have prompted her to reach out to disadvantaged groups and to help them become more competitive in reaching their full potential. It is with this in mind that she is excited to teach and interact with Malaysian youth.

Kelley also plans to spend her free time researching the Malaysian celebratory and political culture of performance and establishing a mentoring program for local students. Kelley’s passion lies in utilizing
education as a means for personal and economic development. As a result of her interests and passions, she plans to obtain a Master’s Degree in International Development upon her return to the United States.