Andrew LaFiandra, a candidate for May graduation from Hamilton College, has been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Germany. He will teach English as a foreign language there.
LaFiandra spent five months in Tuebingen, Germany, in 2006 with an undergraduate study abroad program through Tufts University. At Hamilton he was the recipient of the Duell German Prize at the 2006 Convocation, is founder of the Gilded Bicycle Guild, a member of the Bobby Peru Sketch Comedy troupe, an actor with Untitled-at-Large Theatre Company, co-captain of the Ultimate Frisbee Club, and an actor with Hogwarts at Hamilton. He also spent a year doing independent study in Perugia, Italy, in 2002-03. in addition, LaFiandra was a student caller with the Annual Fund Phonathon program.
After completing his Fulbright Assistantship, LaFiandra plans to attend graduate school for German, and then teach at the high school or post-secondary level.
The purpose of the Fulbright Program is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills. The program is designed to give recent college graduates opportunities for personal development and international experience.
It offers invaluable opportunities to meet and work with people of the host country, sharing daily life as well as professional and creative insights. The program promotes cross-cultural interaction and mutual understanding on a person-to-person basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity and intellectual freedom. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by Congress to the Department of State. The U.S. Student Program awards approximately 900 grants annually and currently operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.
