Ona Elkins ’24, a recent graduate of UNC Asheville, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to serve as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan for the 2025-2026 academic year. This award is given by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
She will spend 11 months at an elementary or middle school in Chiayi County, located on the southwestern coast of Taiwan about two hours from the capital Taipei.
“I will collaborate with Local English Teachers (LETs) to facilitate lessons on American culture and English, with the goal of a mutual cultural exchange between myself and the community. This will establish meaningful relationships and contribute to a more-educated and more open-minded world,” Elkins said. “I’m incredibly excited to continue studying Mandarin, which I took a year of courses in with Professor Jinhua Li (李老师) as a student, and to explore how policy and government functions in a rural county in Taiwan.”
While at UNC Asheville, Elkins majored in political science and international studies, with a minor in Asian studies. During her time as a student, she studied abroad in Granada, Spain, and Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan. She also played D1 Volleyball and was the recipient of UNC Asheville’s 2024 Manly E. Wright Award, the University’s highest academic honor. She said her experience across departments at UNC Asheville contributed to her interest in Fulbright Taiwan.
“I wrote my senior International Studies thesis on democratization movements in Hong Kong, which led me to study the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan. Applying my comparative politics knowledge from my Political Science degree to Hong Kong and Taiwan, which I studied in my Asian Studies courses, felt like the true epitome of my interdisciplinary experience at UNC Asheville,” Elkins said. “Having the ability to take so many courses for the love of learning and my network of professors, friends, classmates, coaches, and staff all contributed to my receiving a Fulbright grant.”
Since graduating, Elkins has been working in local government in Murphy, North Carolina through the Lead for North Carolina program as an Americorps fellow. This position, combined with her upcoming experience in Taiwan, she hopes will aid her on her journey through graduate school and work in public service.
“Ona was the kind of student who could do it all: she was an accomplished researcher and scholar, a leader both on- and off-campus, and a true embodiment of a liberal arts education,” said Ashley Moraguez, associate professor of political science. “She is testament to what we do best here at UNC Asheville, and I have no doubt that she will represent her alma mater and her country well as a Fulbright scholar.”
About the Fulbright Program
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad.
“UNC Asheville has a strong track record with the Fulbright Program and has been a Fulbright Top-Producing Institution for 7 of the last 10 years,” said Eric Roubinek, associate professor of history and UNC Asheville’s primary Fulbright Program Adviser for students. “In that time 12 students have received grants to pursue their post-graduation goals around the world.”
More than 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Students—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals—pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English in schools abroad each year.
They are recognized alongside more than 800 faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals who teach or conduct research in affiliation with institutes abroad annually through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters form ongoing research collaborations and lay the groundwork for future partnerships between institutions.
Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which has operated in over 160 countries worldwide. In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org
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