Pacific University Student Nicole Yip ‘18 Receives Fulbright Scholarship

Pacific University student Nicole Yip ‘18 has been selected to receive a 2018-2019 U.S. Fulbright Student Award to teach English in Panama following graduation.

“Upon receiving the award notification, all I could think about was my mother,” said Yip, an international studies major from Portland. “She raised my two siblings and me on her own as a refugee from the Khmer Rouge regime (Cambodia).”

Yip said growing up was very difficult at times, but she found refuge and solace in education. Fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, Yip said it was through studying those languages and others that she found herself and her life’s passion: teaching.

“I am excited and eager to do what I love, which is teach languages,” she said. “Hopefully, I will invoke the same passion for learning languages in my future students and inspire them to pursue both an advanced education and learning a second language, regardless of their circumstances, in the same way that my teachers have inspired me.”

Yip transferred to Pacific from Portland Community College, following in the footsteps of sister Celine Yip ‘16, now a graduate teaching associate at Columbia University in New York who recently received a Fulbright grant to conduct research in Wuhan, China.

“My sister had told me about her experience being challenged, but greatly encouraged academically by her professors, which was exactly the type of dynamic that really appealed to me,” Nicole said. “My experience at Pacific has most definitely fulfilled my initial hopes."

Like Celine, Nicole received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Pacific after completing a dual-credit program administered by PCC.

After completing her Fulbright teaching assistantship, Nicole Yip hopes to pursue either a master’s or PhD program in a subject related to education, linguistics or nonprofit leadership.

“I would be extremely interested in pursuing a career in the nonprofit and educational sector, ideally working with students from underprivileged and marginalized backgrounds,” she said

The Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. More than 380,000 have participated in the program since its inception in 1946.