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Brian Chung, a member of the Boston College Class of 2014, got a post-graduation present when he received word recently that his Fulbright grant to Ukraine had been approved for funding.
Chung was among three 2014 BC graduates initially selected as alternates for a Fulbright, which supports a year's post-baccalaureate study abroad. He is now the 10th BC alumnus to be fully admitted to the Fulbright program this year.
The Holbrook, NY, native will travel to Ukraine later this year and work at a school through an English Teaching Assistantship. While there, Chung hopes to establish a student club on environmental awareness and organize a community run/walk event to support a local charity.
Chung, who earned his degree in mathematics and geoscience, traces part of his ancestry to Ukraine, the homeland of his maternal grandparents. A 2011 visit to his extended family in Ukraine and courses through BC's Slavic and Eastern Languages Department fueled his interest in seeking a Fulbright and spending more time in Ukraine despite the turmoil that has gripped the country in recent months.
"Traveling to Ukraine at this time would be a treasure, with the opportunity to experience the region at such a critical crossroads in its life as a nation," said Chung in an interview with Chronicle in May. "It is an opportunity to view how Ukraine's people respond to adversity and an opportunity to use my project founded on English language."