WVU Today
Three West Virginia University alumni will teach English abroad next year after being awarded the Fulbright Scholarship, allowing them to develop cross-cultural competency, as well as skills to further their career goals.
Riley Imlay, from Huntington, will travel to the Canary Islands, where he hopes to develop his Spanish-speaking skills while teaching English to elementary school students, an age group he already has extensive experience teaching through service with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica from 2018-2020. A 2018 WVU graduate with an English major and biology minor and an Honors College student, Imlay plans to go to medical school and later to work with Doctors Without Borders. Imlay said the skills he’ll learn abroad will be invaluable in helping him continue to develop the ability to relate to his patients, no matter their background.
John Kolar will rediscover his family roots with his ETA placement in Pozna, Poland. To prepare, Kolar has been studying Polish. A December 2019 WVU graduate from Morgantown, who majored in electrical engineering and with minors in music technology and physics, Kolar is passionate about audio engineering and music technology and plans to either start graduate school or work in industry after finishing his award.
Caroline Toler will complete her ETA posting in Málaga in southern Spain, where she will develop her Spanish proficiency — a skill she believes will be invaluable in her future career goal of working with foster children as a family law attorney. Most recently from Grafton, Toler graduated in May 2020 as an Honors College student with degrees in English and Spanish and minors in philosophy and law & legal studies. Toler will use her writing and editing experience to help university students polish their English writing skills at the writing studio there. She is also planning on running an English book club.
