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Bucknell Fulbright Award Winners Take Their Passions for Community-building Global

LEWISBURG, Pa (July 7, 2022) – The drive to create lasting change for good runs as a common thread for many Bucknellians. This year, three Fulbright Award winners are taking that passion abroad on their next steps to support and transform communities.

Offering study, research, teaching and exchange opportunities in more than 140 countries, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program expands perspectives through professional and academic development and cross-cultural dialogue. The program is grounded in community engagement and cultural immersion, allowing Fulbrighters to expand their viewpoints as they develop mutual understanding with the people of their host country.

Bucknell’s 2022 award winners exemplify these values. And while they each face their Fulbright experience with individual inspiration and diverse backgrounds, they share the common goal of working to build stronger communities.

A high school performance of The Bartered Bride, a famous Czech operetta, coupled with the desire to explore how music therapy can affect health outcomes laid the foundation for Lily Shorney ’22’s Fulbright application to the Czech Republic. “I’ve never been to that part of the world, but I have done a lot of research on Prague. So many things about the city — the architecture and the culture — are so intriguing. And my singing of that Czech opera is what sparked my interest.”

She’s headed to Chrudim, a small town about an hour outside of Prague, where she, too, will serve as an English teaching assistant.

“At Bucknell, I worked for the Lewisburg Listening Post, a mentor program for middle and elementary school students,” says Shorney, a psychology and women’s & gender studies double-major from Glen Ellyn, Ill. “It was an amazing experience and helped me realize how much I love doing that type of work.”

Shorney’s Fulbright experience will be in “a gymnázium, which is similar to a high school. It’s like secondary education,” she explains. “There’s a four-year track and an eight-year track, so the students that I will be working with range from 11 years old to 18 or 19.”

As she considers her upcoming year abroad, she sees music woven in. Notably, Shorney sees the benefit of music’s ability to bridge cultural gaps. “Music can really transcend language barriers. And those barriers might be hard to cross in the Czech Republic,” she says.

Ultimately, she is driven by her desire to combine her love of music with her passion for supporting others. “I know for sure that I want to work to improve the health of communities — it’s definitely a huge goal and aspiration of mine. As far as the Czech Republic goes, I’m definitely drawn there by music.”

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Lily Shorney