It was probably one of the hardest assignments they’ve ever undertaken in college—lasting nearly a year and involving countless hours of introspection, strategizing, collaboration, reviewing, writing and rewriting.
They won’t even get a grade, but Kara Burks ’26, Sarah Gressett ’26 and Ryan Urban ’26 say applying for a coveted Fulbright grant was well worth the effort—even if their names are not among the recipients who will be announced in March 2026.
“In a modern culture that seems to prefer quick gratification more and more, I’m proud of myself for deciding to do it, putting in the effort and sticking it out to the end,” said Gressett, a modern languages/teaching English as a second language major from Greene County, Virginia. She applied for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant in Mexico, where she previously studied abroad, to work with non-native English speakers.
Urban, a double major in physics and computer science, applied for a Fulbright Canada Research Grant. He hopes to conduct research on developing new protocols for a distributed quantum computing architecture at McGill University in Montreal.
Burks, an English secondary education major, applied for an English Teaching Assistant Grant that would take her to a secondary school or university in Norway, where she’d help students hone their English skills.
In addition to the personal growth and gratification of completing the rigorous application, the three students made Longwood history: This was the first time three students have applied for a Fulbright grant in the same year.
Longwood’s Fulbright advisor, English professor Dr. Jennifer Miskec, worked with the students throughout the application process and would give them all an A+ if she could. Herself a three-time Fulbright recipient, Miskec is currently reviewing applications for a different Fulbright grant category, so she speaks from experience when she describes the quality of the Longwood students’ applications.
Our students’ applications are just as good—if not better—than any I’m reading for the awards I’m judging. To have three students in one cycle who are this incredibly competitive is a really big brag for us.
Dr. Jennifer Miskec, professor of English and Longwood's Fulbright advisor
“Our students’ applications are just as good—if not better—than any I’m reading for the awards I’m judging,” she said. “To have three students in one cycle who are this incredibly competitive is a really big brag for us.”
One the most demanding parts of the application requires that applicants give serious thought to how they would engage with the community in the country where they are placed, Miskec said.
“That can make or break an application. You have to be a cultural ambassador for the United States, and you have to figure out what you bring to the table that helps you engage in an authentic way,” she said.
For Gressett, that part of the application was constantly on her mind during her study abroad experience in Mexico last spring.
“The whole time I was thinking about the questions on the Fulbright application, wondering, ‘What do I value here, and what can I bring back to share with my home community?” she said.
Burks, who worked full time while taking classes and completing the application, said applying for the Fulbright grant was the fulfillment of a promise she made to herself—and a “practice in focus, patience and balance, but ultimately very rewarding. [When I came to Longwood], I made a promise to myself to take every opportunity I could find. There’s so much of the world to explore. ”
Urban believes he will carry the feeling of completing the application with him for the rest of his life.
“I would definitely do it again,” he said. “Fulbright is not limited to recent graduates. There is an indescribable feeling when you hit that submit button: a mixture of fear, excitement and hope that I won’t forget.”
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