Meet Our MA in English Fulbright Scholars!

My name is Anastasiia Malakhova and I am from the city of Million Roses – Donetsk, Ukraine. I graduated from Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University majoring in English and German Languages and Literatures. Becoming a writer has always been my dream, and with the Fulbright Ukraine scholarship, I’m closer to achieving it. My passion lies in Appalachian literature, where I find fascinating parallels with the stories told by Ukrainian authors from my home region. My journey has also led me to teach English at a private language school and volunteer in Greece, where I eventually spent an incredible two and a half years immersed in its culture and beauty.

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My name is Julio Lopez Soza, I am 25 years old, and I am from Matagalpa, Nicaragua. I hold a BA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which I studied while I was also working as an EFL teacher in Elementary School. This led me to get a Postgraduate certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) as well as to research on extrinsic motivation and suggestopedia for developing English Speaking Skills. After graduation, I pursued a career in Language Interpreting and Translation. I worked as an Eng-Spa medical interpreter for 2 years. During this time, I explored neuro-linguistic programming and learning by association, methods which I later used to learn Portuguese and French. Finally, I also worked as a Portuguese TA and French Instructor for A levels.

My interest in Linguistics is language learning for multilingualism and for translation and interpreting. During my Applied Linguistics MA program here at UNC Charlotte, I hope to expand my knowledge on these subjects to boost my future career opportunities.

Finally, I am 1 of 3 Nicaraguan Fulbright Scholars. This is a fully funded scholarship sponsored by the US Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The purpose of this scholarship is to promote mutual understanding among cultures around the world as well as to enrich scholars’ experience by having them pursue their graduate studies in the best universities of the United States.