Fulbright recipient returning to Spain

Zahn, of Seymour near Green Bay, studied abroad in Spain as a University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire undergraduate and will return to the Spanish countryside this fall as an English teaching assistant after earning a 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Award.

“I studied abroad in Bilbao, Spain, in fall 2022 and I’ve since been trying to find a way to go back,” Zahn says. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I’m honestly still in disbelief that I will be able to go back for a full school year.”

Zahn is the 56th UW-Eau Claire student to receive a Fulbright national scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. UW-Eau Claire is one of the top master’s universities in the country for the number of Fulbright recipients produced. Among Universities of Wisconsin schools, only UW-Madison has had more student Fulbrights than UW-Eau Claire.

UW-Eau Claire has created a campus structure through its Fulbright Campus Committee to support students through the application process, a key reason the university is a top Fulbright producer, says Colleen Marchwick, director of UW-Eau Claire’s Center for International Education.

“Often when people think about national scholarships like Fulbright, their impression is that only students attending elite institutions are competitive,” Marchwick says. “However, UW-Eau Claire’s success shows that regional universities offer the academics and co-curricular experiences that lead to selection for a national scholarship like Fulbright — foreign languages study abroad, undergraduate research and honors.”

Zahn graduated May 17 with a double major in economics and public health, and a minor in Spanish, while being a member of the Mark Stephen Cosby Honors College program.

Zahn recalls taking an honors course titled “The Global Cold War” as a second-year student that opened her eyes to her love for studying international relations.

“I had just returned from my study abroad experience when I took this class, and it resonated so deeply with me that I realized I had so much more to do and learn abroad,” Zahn says.

Zahn believes she was a strong Fulbright applicant because she studied abroad in Spain and went on a social and environmental justice immersion trip to Guatemala. She also took part in three student-faculty research projects over the last four years.

Dr. Heather Fielding, director of the Cosby Honors College, says she had a conversation with Zahn as the student prepared for her Guatemala immersion experience during her first year on campus.

“It was clear by then that she was the kind of student who was passionate about global learning and applying her knowledge for good,” Fielding says. “It has been such a pleasure to watch her grow and find her way to new interests — research projects in both public health and economics, serving as an honors tutor, writing an honors thesis, studying abroad in Spain. Her love of learning is contagious and she is going to do big things.”

Zahn looks forward to interacting with the Spanish culture and people again.

“I specifically asked to be assigned to rural schools, so I’m looking forward to connecting with the side of Spain that not many tourists see,” Zahn says. “I miss the challenge of doing everything in a non-native language, and I’m excited to see what kind of progress I can make in a year both for myself and the students I’m working with.”

After her year in Spain, Zahn plans to attend graduate school either in the U.S. or abroad.