W&L’s Colin Berger ’20 Awarded Fulbright Grant to Spain Berger has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain starting January 2021.

By Will Edgar
May 15, 2020

“W&L has taken me further and done more for me than I could possibly have imagined four years ago, and I am forever grateful to this place and these people.”

~ Colin Berger ’20

Washington and Lee University senior Colin Berger ’20 has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Spain starting January 2021. At W&L, Berger majored in biology and English.

Fulbright ETA grants are generally nine months in length and begin in early September, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program start date has been pushed to January 2021. Berger will teach English in Asturias, Spain, during his six-month assistantship. Outside the classroom, Berger plans to work with the Spanish organization COCEMFE to improve accessibility and mobility for the elderly and disabled in the local community.

“I have had experience working on this issue back home in Richmond with the organization RAMPS, and I am excited by the opportunity to continue that work abroad,” Berger said. “Winning a Fulbright means the world to me. This grant represents the opportunity to live, teach and immerse myself in an entirely new culture, none of which I would have been able to do otherwise, and I could not be more excited and thankful to get this chance.”

Berger says his time at W&L has prepared him for this next step in his educational journey. “There is no way I can fully capture everything that my time at Washington and Lee has done to shape me and ready me for the Fulbright and beyond,” said Berger. “My four years at W&L have taught me what hard work looks like, shown me what amazing things are possible in a community based on trust and respect, and given me a group of friends and mentors with whom I’ll have relationships for the rest of my life. W&L has taken me further and done more for me than I could possibly have imagined four years ago, and I am forever grateful to this place and these people.”

Berger plans to attend medical school after completing his Fulbright program. Following graduation later this month, he’ll continue his studies for the MCAT exam, which is scheduled for August. After that, he plans to work in Richmond, either volunteering or working somewhere in the medical profession, before leaving for Spain.

“Colin has been a pre-medical student all along, but he’s also been a passionate student of the theater, literature and Spanish,” said Kary Smout, associate professor of English and Berger’s advisor. “I admire how broad his interests are and how energetically he throws himself into his activities. He will be an outstanding Fulbright Scholar and represent well the liberal arts tradition at Washington and Lee.”

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