Lucinda Ray

2020 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grantee

Hometown

Fishers, IN

Major

Linguistics; French; Russian

College

College of Liberal Arts

 

Lucinda Ray will return to Europe on Fulbright to teach English in Moldova. Previously, she volunteered to teach English to children in Poland. She also was an assistant English teacher for adults while studying abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. Ray has a particular interest in post-Soviet countries. She said, “Moldova, with its layered history with Romania, the conflict concerning Transnistria, and own unique history and culture, is not well known in American discourse and I am keen to share my personal experience with others.”

 

Ray’s goals for language teaching are based on mutual understanding. When considering the purpose of Fulbright, Ray reflected on a visit with a Russian friend who was staying in Estonia, where they had a conversation about stereotypes of Americans and Russians, saying “our people, our civilians, are more alike than one would initially think. While this personal sense of understanding is enjoyable to me, I believe it goes deeper, acting as a sort of grassroots method for promoting peace and international cooperation.”