Belmont University welcomed its first Fulbright Visiting Scholar this fall. Meike Herzog is a graduate student in the Social Work field at the Diploma University of Applied Sciences in North Hessen, Germany, attending Belmont for the fall 2023 semester and studying in the Mental Health Counseling Department in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
“We are delighted to have Meike studying with us, as she is the first student to study here at Belmont on a Fulbright Scholarship,” said Tom Knowles-Bagwell, Professor & Director of Doctoral Studies & Spiritual Integration for the Department of Mental Health Counseling in Belmont’s College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. “This is a tremendous honor for Belmont, the CPHS and especially for the Mental Health Counseling Department.”
The Fulbright Program, the United States government’s flagship program of international educational and cultural exchange, offers students and scholars in more than 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to mutual understanding.
“I’ve wanted to study abroad since my undergraduate years,” Herzog explained. “The onset of coronavirus put a halt to my plans to make it happen in undergrad, but once it settled down a bit, I began to research opportunities as a graduate student and found Fulbright accidentally.” The application and interview process for the scholarship program lasted four months from inquiry to acceptance.
Once accepted into Fulbright, Herzog only had two must-haves in choosing an institution: studying in an English-speaking country — preferably the United States — and studying in an environment with city nearby. “I’ve been fascinated with the U.S. since elementary school. I’ve always been impressed by the size of the country, the different regulations, the people, health systems and overall variety of the country. In addition to learning, I wanted to get to know the people and the culture and become more fluent in English.”
According to the Fulbright website, U.S. Higher Education institutions are instrumental to the success of the Fulbright mission, serving as key allies in advancing the goal of sharing knowledge across communities, promoting mutual understanding across nations and improving lives around the world.
“I narrowed my university choices down to the top four U.S. schools I might like to attend and sent emails to leadership within the respective social work programs with general questions pertaining to the college, and Belmont replied most promptly,” Herzog said.
“Professor Tom Bagwell responded within two days and was so welcoming, even offering a Zoom call to answer my questions, even though I was non-degree seeking. He talked me through academic options and suggested financial solutions, and overall seemed very invested in my journey before I had even applied — that’s why I came to Belmont. It was the feeling it gave me.”
An unexpected bonus for Herzog was the transferring of credits between universities. “It was a big milestone for me that I was accepted into both Fulbright and Belmont University. I wanted the learning experience more than anything, but was excited to discover that my coursework at Belmont waives two exams at my other University.”
Her Belmont coursework for the semester is divided into two parts — sixteen weeks of independent study and eight weeks of in-classroom coursework. “In Germany, we have lots of optional reading, and here, reading is mandatory, which has been challenging, but I really enjoy it,” she said. “I get to connect with my professors bi-weekly to discuss my independent work, and their teachings are always so helpful. It is interesting to develop a new way of learning, and understand how American professors teach their students, as opposed to what I am used to in Germany.”
Herzog will graduate from the Diploma University of Applied Sciences in North Hessen, Germany in September 2024 with a master’s of Psychosocial Counseling in Social Work.