June 13, 2005
History grad off to Taiwan on Fulbright Scholarship
By Scott Rappaport
In two weeks, Katie Walsh will touch down in Taiwan to begin
an 11-month adventure--teaching English and American culture
to elementary schoolchildren as a Fulbright Scholar.
Katie Walsh
Photo: Scott Rappaport
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The 21-year-old College Ten student has just received her bachelor
of arts degree in history from UCSC with an emphasis on Asia
and the Middle East.
She marked the occasion by delivering the student commencement
address on Saturday at her college graduation ceremonies.
A transfer student from Bryn Mawr, Walsh came to UCSC in the
fall of 2003 after taking a year off to work for the educational
wing of AmeriCorps.
Essentially its the domestic Peace Corps,
Walsh noted. During the mornings, I mentored six second
graders learning English as a second language who had just come
over from mainland China; in the afternoon, I was a teacher
for 29 third graders.
Upon her arrival at UCSC, Walsh found her niche on campus at
the College Ten International Living Center where she resided
for a year with students from a variety of countries around
the world. She soon became the coordinator of the International
Affairs Group, a student organization that met every week to
talk about politics and culture.
Walsh also participated in the Chancellors Undergraduate
Internship Program, working with Praxis--a service-learning
organization at Colleges Nine and Ten. We did a number
of different community-service projects throughout Santa Cruz
for groups like the Homeless Garden Project and Jacobs
Heart, which provides support for children with cancer,
Walsh said. We also helped out with a benefit concert
that was held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium to raise money
for Oxfam, the global relief agency.
Last spring, Walsh also found time to travel to Mexico with
a group of 30 students as part of UCSCs Alternative Spring
Break program, to help build a house for a Mexican family.
Walsh said that she has been very impressed with the quality
and support offered to her by faculty during her time at UCSC.
When I first transferred here, I took a course in history
with Alan Christy and his class was amazing and intriguing--he
was unlike any professor I had encountered at Bryn Mawr,
she noted. And Ive taken classes from Gail Hershatter
who has been extremely approachable, supportive, and inspiring--she
helped me with my academic and career plans.
What also makes UCSC so dynamic and powerful has been
the activism on this campus--how passionate students are and
how committed they are to social justice, Walsh added.
That passion doesnt exist at many other campuses.
After returning from Taiwan in 2006, Walsh plans to further
her education--by traveling throughout Asia to visit friends
and contacts she made at the College Ten International Living
Center--before considering a possible career in education and
public policy. To successfully do education, community,
and social justice work, I feel its essential to learn
and understand the history of different cultures, she
observed.
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