This year, five St. Edward’s University alumni have received Fulbright scholarships to study, teach and research in different countries.

St. Edward’s is tied for second place in number of students who receive Fulbright scholarships at master’s granting institutions, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

There are only about 8,000 grant recipients every year in the U.S., according to the Fulbright website. St. Edward’s alumni Sarah Amelang, Susanna Lopez, Glenn Trujillo, Dustin Baltis and Marianne Shea all received Fulbright scholarships.

Amelang was a global studies major who has had previous experience abroad. For the past year she has been an au pair in Austria. In the future, she plans to get her master’s degree in international relations. This year, Amelang will be teaching English in Germany.

Shea, a former English writing and rhetoric major and member of the St. Edward’s honors program, has also had a lot of experience abroad in countries such as Italy, Israel and India. With her Fulbright grant, she will travel to Turkey to teach English.

Lopez, a former international business major, is currently in Germany teaching English. She also had experience abroad after studying in Koblenz, Germany for one year.

Trujillo, a former philosophy major, also received a Fulbright to teach English in Germany.

“I think there is something intrinsically rewarding in learning about other cultures,” Trujillo said.

Trujillo is a McNair scholar, a graduate of the St. Edward’s honors program and is fluent in three languages. Trujillo has studied at other universities, including the University of Houston and Notre Dame, but he still supports St. Edward’s.

“I really love my alma mater, and if I can help to bring success to her, then that makes me feel that much better,” Trujillo said.

Dustin Baltis, who majored in history, is currently teaching English in Mongolia. Baltis received an award that allowed him to study Herman Hesse, a German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter. Baltis has spent a semester in Nepal studying Buddhism, tutored Tibetan monks in Austin and traveled to India to work with Tibetan refugees.

“I hope to enroll in a creative writing program in [New York] following my year in Mongolia. There is also the possibility that I might stay and teach another year in Mongolia,” Baltis said. “In America I worked as a barista; in Mongolia I work as a professor. Which would you chose?”