Never giving up on your dreams can be more rewarding than you ever imagined. That is the advice Jannie Nigoza, a recent UNLV College of Education graduate and Fulbright Student Award winner, has for fellow students and alumni.

Nigoza was one of a handful of finalists to earn placement in the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program, a component of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, earlier this spring. 

The program awards a grant to travel to a host country to live and work. The goal is to facilitate cultural exchange and build mutual understanding with citizens of the host country.

As a low-income and first-generation student, Nigoza began navigating her college career mostly on her own and always kept her plate full. She was in the Academic Success Center’s Hixson-Lied Success Scholars Program, the Nevada Institute on Teaching and Educator Preparation program, and the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She also held several student-worker jobs.

“I was a pretty involved student,” Nigoza said. “Within the four years of my undergraduate career, there were a lot of ups and downs, but overall it was a great experience, and I can say I’m not the same person I was starting my first year.”

She completed her time at UNLV by graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in secondary education and a concentration in social studies.

Nigoza had been looking for an opportunity to travel internationally since she was in high school. At UNLV, she connected with the office of international programs for help finding the right program and navigating the study abroad application process. She headed off to Spain for her spring 2020 semester.

“I had to leave in March, and I was so devastated. That was my first time traveling internationally, and this is something I had always wanted to do,” Nigoza said. “Unfortunately, that was just the timing of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Even though she only spent a few short months abroad, Nigoza enjoyed her time teaching English through an after-school program in Spain, which pushed her to seek a similar experience.

“Ever since then, I was looking at the Fulbright… as part of [the scholarship], you have to be selective of the country you want to go to, so I had to do a lot of self-reflection to figure out what I wanted to do,” Nigoza said.

Nigoza chose to teach English to secondary school students in Korea, where she will also be doing some language learning herself – she is not fluent in Korean but is excited to make progress in the language.

“My hope is that I can have a beginning level of understanding of Korean before I start my grant,” Nigoza said, adding that she is excited to be immersed in the region’s culture and language. “I can’t wait for the food.”

Nigoza initially applied for the grant before graduating in 2021 but only made it to the semifinalist round of the selection process. Even though she felt discouraged, she said her Fulbright advisor within the office of international programs pushed her to apply again.

“I had a lot of doubt and didn’t think I wanted to reapply for it, but I ended up reapplying anyway. I was just like, OK, we’ll see what happens,’” Nigoza said.

She was notified she had made it to the semifinalist round in January and then moved on to finalist in March.

“When I got the acceptance letter, I had to re-read it two, three times, because I was like, ‘This is not real,’” Nigoza laughed.

When asked about her biggest advice to students hoping to be selected for the program, Nigoza said not giving up is extremely important.

“There are other people who have applied three, four times and have gotten it. If this is something that you really want to do, don’t give up, start your application process early and reach out to your resources,” she said. “Even if you don’t get it… there are so many other opportunities to travel, do research, teach, to do what you want.”

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program’s two major components are the Fulbright Study/Research Award and the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program. Those interested in applying must be citizens or nationals of the United States and have a conferred bachelor’s degree or an equivalent before the start of their anticipated grant period.

Applications for the 2024-25 award cycle are open, and the campus deadline is Aug. 21, 2023. Graduating students or alumni who would like more information on the program and application process can visit the Fulbright Program website or contact the UNLV office of international programs.