As ACE celebrates its 10-year anniversary, we reflect on the impact and journeys of our alumni. Over the past decade, ACE participants have gone on to pursue various fields, from professional athletics to advanced academic pursuits and international service. Of our alums, four have been awarded and completed Fulbright Fellowships, a program dedicated to promoting intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries by enabling graduate study, research, or English teaching abroad. ACE alumni Tanner Johnson (Duke ‘18), Rachel Reichenbach (Stanford ‘19), Max St. George (Duke ‘19), Eoin Gronningsater (Duke ‘20) have all participated in this prestigious fellowship program since participating in ACE.
Tanner Johnson, Duke class of 2018 and Men’s Track and Field member, was a part of the ACE in China ’16 program, the very first year of ACE. With his ACE group, Tanner traveled to Yunnan Province where in collaboration with a local NGO, he spent three weeks coaching sports at a camp for ethnic minority youth, along with teaching English. After graduating from Duke, he accepted a Fulbright ETA fellowship in Spain. During his year there, he worked at a vocational school in Galicia. Tanner hoped to continue pursuing the curiosities that ACE inspired, mainly around teaching, in addition to honing two of his passions: Spanish language and computer science. Click here to read more about Tanner’s experience.
Rachel Reichenbach, Stanford class of 2019 and Women’s Track and Field team member, also participated in the very first year of the ACE program through the ACE in Vietnam 2016 program. In this ACE program, students partnered with Coach for College to host a three-week summer camp for youth in the area, in collaboration with Vietnamese university students. After returning to campus, Rachel stayed heavily involved with ACE through the Ambassador Program and as an ACE Student-Assistant.
“ACE also led me to spend much of the latter half of my undergrad years searching for ways to re-think the structure and trainings within these service programs in a way that would promote more ethical service, service that both prioritizes the autonomy of the host community and commits to respecting and listening to individuals within that community.”
Her passion for service and the ethics of this work led her to apply for and receive a Fulbright Research grant, where she returned to Vietnam to research the ethics of international service.
Click here to read about Rachel’s experience with ACE and the impact her time in Vietnam had on applying for the Fulbright.
Max St. George, Duke class of 2019 and a member of the Men’s Swimming and Diving team, is an alum of the ACE in China 2017 program. In the China program, Max, similarly to Tanner, spent three weeks teaching English and coaching sports at a camp for ethnic minority youth in collaboration with a local NGO – the China Exploration and Research Society (CERS). Max became the third ACE alum to earn the Fulbright Fellowship, where he was initially accepted to be an ETA in Malaysia. Due to restrictions set in place by the COVID-19 pandemic, Max instead began his Fulbright ETA position in Taiwan and worked as an educator at an elementary school. Click here to read more about Max’s experience applying to and receiving the Fulbright Fellowship.
Eoin Gronningsater, Duke class of 2020 and Men’s Fencing team member, was the fourth and most recent ACE alum to receive the Fulbright. Eoin participated in the ACE in Vietnam program and like Rachel, spent three weeks in Mekong Delta teaching academics, sports, and life skills at a middle school youth summer camp with Coach for College After graduating, Eoin worked as a math and ELA learning specialist at Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy 2 Middle School for several years before receiving a Fulbright Spain ETA award. He is currently teaching at a University (UCJC) about 15-20 minutes outside of central Madrid. When reflecting on how his ACE experience shaped his future and desire to teach, he shared,
“My ACE experience has significantly influenced my journey in education since graduating. ACE was a big reason that I decided to become a teacher in the first place, as it helped me to see how rewarding teaching is.”
To read more about Eoin, his ACE experience, and his Fulbright award click here.
We are thrilled to highlight these four ACE alums and their continued involvement in civic engagement, international education, and international service work after graduation!