June 15, 2011
Emma Din

Emma Din

Emma Din, a May 2011 graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in Cali, Colombia, from July 2011 to May 2012. Din, from Atlanta, double-majored in health policy and management at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and international studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, with a minor in Spanish.

She will teach an English class on American culture at Universidad Santiago de Cali for 15 to 20 hours each week, using the rest of her time to develop individual research plans and become involved in the community. With interests in maternal and child health and international development, Ms. Din hopes to volunteer with an international health nongovernmental organization or local health clinic.

“I trained as a volunteer doula at UNC Health Care my junior year,” she said, “and I’d like to utilize those skills, as well as investigate access to health care services for women and their families.”

Din says she couldn’t have asked for a better path in her postgraduate year. She plans to pursue a Master of Public Health degree, so the teaching fellowship will allow her to explore her interests in the developing world, other cultures and public health.

During the summer before her sophomore year, she volunteered at a rural Rwandan hospital, an experience that piqued her interest in international health. The following summer, she traveled through Argentina, Chile and Peru, conducting research on access to maternal health care and the role of midwives.

“That’s when I fell in love with South America and really hoped I’d have an opportunity to return, explore more countries and continue my research,” she said. “The Fulbright gives me that opportunity.”

Din says she feels very fortunate to have received the fellowship. “I constantly have to remind myself that, yes, this is actually my real life. I’m grateful for the foundation in public health that the undergraduate health policy and management program has given me, and I’m excited about applying the skills I’ve gained to a whole new environment.”

Seventeen University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students and recent graduates received 2011-2012 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards to study, teach or conduct research in other countries. Nationwide, the program chose more than 1,700 recipients for their academic or professional achievement and leadership potential. The Fulbright operates in more than 135 countries.

 
The late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas established the program in 1946 to build mutual understanding among people of the United States and the world. The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. At UNC, it is administered by the Center for Global Initiatives.

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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

 

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