July 12, 2022
For Elisabeth Sudbey ’21, Fulbright award in South Korea is an opportunity to explore heritage
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
For Elisabeth Sudbey ’21, a Fulbright teaching assistantship is the realization of a longstanding dream. That she’ll live and teach in South Korea makes it all the sweeter.
“My goal since high school was a Fulbright. My dream has been to live, work, and study in South Korea and learn the language,” Sudbey said. “A Fulbright there is a perfect opportunity, and one I have been working toward for years.”
She is one of five recent Providence College graduates awarded an English teaching assistantship through the Fulbright program, the flagship international exchange program of the U.S. government. It is the most in any single year for the college. The others are Sara Conway ’21 (Taiwan), Evan Diliberto ’22 (Slovak Republic), Grace Maffucci ’22 (Mexico), and Jesus Maldonado ’18, ’21G (Colombia).
Sudbey, who was adopted from South Korea, grew up in Grafton, Mass. She visited Providence College for the first time at the recommendation of a cousin who attended. She was undecided about a major but discovered an interest in global studies thanks to a course with visiting professor Dana Ginestet, M.S. Global studies is an interdisciplinary major that teaches students a global perspective on social, economic, and political issues.
“My Introduction to Global Studies course introduced me thoughtful perspectives on the world that I had never considered as someone who grew up in predominately white areas,” Sudbey said. “Professor Ginestet encouraged me to be reflexive and more open-minded.”
Sudbey added minors in French and in business and innovation, where she focused on entrepreneurship as well as research and development — “the parts of business I’m most interested in.” Outside the classroom, she hosted “Suds’ Buds,” a show about new and emerging music on WDOM radio; was an orientation leader; worked part-time in the Office of Institutional Advancement and on a food truck; and played women’s club rugby. She played scrum half and wore the number nine.
“I fell in love with it,” she said. “The girls I played rugby with are still like family to me.”
Sudbey even makes it back to campus for some of their matches — a manageable drive from Salem, Mass., where she works for United Way AmeriCorps as a multilingual teacher at an elementary school. She helps children from immigrant families in kindergarten through fourth grade learn or improve their English and build their social and emotional skills. She also assists at the after-school YMCA program.
Sudbey is multilingual. She speaks and reads French and can pick up words and phrases in Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Arabic. She learned through travel, realizing how important language is to connection, trust, respect, and community-building.
As an undergraduate at PC, Sudbey participated in the Korea-America Student Conference, a student-led, academic and cultural exchange program designed to build closer ties between young leaders in both countries. She will be the American co-chair of the conference this summer.
“The experience as a student helped me to learn more about myself and connect more deeply with Korean culture,” Sudbey said. “I learned about Korean politics, society, and language from students, activists, and professors.”
Sudbey spent the fall semester of her junior year teaching English at an elementary school in Dakar, Senegal, through a global studies internship. There, she saw the importance of preserving native language and culture in the classroom. The experience inspired her interest in AmeriCorps and in teaching English to multicultural learners. She was in Vietnam when the pandemic called her back to the United States in the spring.
Sudbey began the Fulbright application process in April 2021, working closely with Darra Mulderry, Ph.D., director of national and international fellowships in Providence College’s Center for Engaged Learning, to draft and edit her application.
“The application process is rigorous, but I had an incredible support system both practically and emotionally. Dr. Mulderry was an integral part of this — she was always on call,” Sudbey said. “I thought every single day about what I could be doing to strengthen my application.”
She submitted her application in October and learned in January that she was a semi-finalist. Later in the spring, she was at the gym when opened an email from the Fulbright Program, read “congratulations,” and was overcome with joy and relief.
“I cried and immediately called my mom,” she said. “I received overwhelming encouragement and joy from friends, family, and coworkers who had been supporting me and this decision for the past year. They were almost more excited than I was,” she said.
Sudbey intends to make the most of her time in South Korea. She is not sure yet where she will teach during the academic year, which begins in January 2023.
“One of the most important things for me personally is learning new things about the Korean part of my identity,” she said. “I know I’m going to be the teacher, but I’m going to be learning so much.”
