New Fulbright winners head to Thailand, Azerbaijan

Madison Chicoine ’16 is heading to Thailand and Kayla Morton ’16 to Azerbaijan as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants. They are the 12th and 13th Cornellians to be awarded Fulbrights in the past 11 years.

Chicoine, an elementary education major with an art endorsement, will spend the year teaching English at a primary or secondary school. She has played in Cornell’s orchestra, wind ensemble, and Pandemonium steel drum band, and worked for the music department and financial aid office. She plans to use her degree to teach at a primary or secondary school.

“After my year is up I could pursue a master’s degree in ESL (English as a second language) or continue working in schools with a high percentage of English language learners,” she said. “I’m really open to anything because I have a lot of different interests, and it’s so hard to tell how this experience is going to shape me.”

Morton, an international relations and Russian major, has worked in the Cornell Writing Studio for three years. She will teach Azerbaijani college students English and American culture.

“I’m looking forward to learning about Azerbaijani culture and getting to know the students that I will be serving,” Morton said. “Moreover, I look forward in being able to challenge myself.”

For the nine months she’ll be in the country, she will also pursue outside research and plans to start an art program for the students with whom she is working.