Without the lessons he learned at Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Graham Ayres doubts that he would be spending the next two years in Taiwan pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural economics under a Fulbright scholarship.
“Norm Guillotte and Michael Carr were great social studies teachers,” Ayres wrote during an exchange of emails last weekend, three days after arriving in the capital city of Taipei. “And Nancy Grout and Jane Plumley gave me good foundations in essay writing and math, respectively.”
Ayres, who grew up in Enfield and graduated from Mascoma in 2011, didn’t imagine where those foundations would lead him when he entered the University of New Hampshire.
“I began college wanting to study history, then political science, then economics after working at Mascoma Savings Bank during breaks and looking into the causes of the great recession,” Ayres recalled. “I find economics so fascinating because it brings in the other social sciences to make sense of decisions made by individuals and societies.”
While taking courses about international development at UNH, Ayres started entertaining the notion of working overseas in some capacity, either for the U.S. government or for a nongovernmental organization. And after learning about National Taiwan University’s master’s program, he applied to the U.S. State Department for his Fulbright grant last October.
Three members of the UNH faculty screened Ayres over the fall of 2016, and his alma mater nominated him to the Fulbright commission. In January, he learned that he was a semifinalist, and in April he found out that he would be one of about 1,900 U.S. citizens to go abroad to study, teach or do research.
Ayres, who studied and did projects in the United Kingdom and Costa Rica during his undergraduate years, chose the Taiwan program because of the country’s “expertise in fishing and subtropical production along with its unique political status and (an) outward-looking population” that provides “large amounts of international aid to the developing world.”
In addition to time in the classroom, Ayres said that he plans “to work on farms all over the island as a means of engagement with the island’s more remote residents,” which he expects will speed up his fluency in Mandarin Chinese.
His studies and travels will keep him away from the Upper Valley for most of the next two years, during each of which he’ll have just two weeks of free time.
“I don’t think I could get much (farther) away from home, as I’m sure my mom would tell you,” Ayres wrote. “Sorry, Mom.”
Current college undergraduates interested in learning more about applying for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program should visit eca.state.gov/fulbright or consult the postgraduate divisions of their schools’ financial-aid offices.
All the Valley’s a Stage
The Stevens High School drama program and the Claremont-based World Under Wonder theater troupe will hold auditions after school this Thursday and Friday, for their November production of The Hobbit, an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel. The auditions, open to aspiring performers ages 8 to 18, run from 4 to 6 each afternoon at the high school. Rehearsals will take place during those same afternoon hours each Tuesday through Friday.
The producers also will welcome young theater devotees interested in working on lights, sound, set design and other backstage tasks for the play, which will be staged Nov. 3 and 4 at the Claremont Opera House. To learn more, worldunderwonder@gmail.com or office@claremontoperahouse.org.
Scholarship-Shape
The Red Sox Foundation recently awarded scholarships of $1,000 each to Bethel resident Anna Dieffenbach and White River Junction’s Maeve Sneddon, for their academic achievements and community-service efforts during their high school years.
Dieffenbach is a recent graduate of Woodstock Union High School, now attending Saint Lawrence University. Sneddon graduated from Hartford High School and is a freshman at the University of California-Berkeley. They are two of 16 Vermont students who received the scholarships, and were recognized during a game at Fenway Park.
Collegiate Recognition
Marist College recently named Hanover resident Evelyn Walsh to its dean’s list, for her academic achievements during the spring 2017 semester at the private school in upstate New York. Walsh, a sophomore, is majoring in Italian.
By Degrees
South Pomfret resident Rachel Allen, Grantham’s Sarah Goldsmith, White River Junction’s Meagan Kidder and Orford’s Alexander Marshall received degrees from the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York in May.
Allen and Goldsmith earned bachelor’s degrees in environmental science, while Kidder collected a master’s in business administration and Marshall received a master’s in microelectronic engineering.
Paul Smith’s College in upstate New York awarded bachelor’s degrees to Lyme Center’s Jesse Cutting, Croydon’s Katharine Marsh, West Lebanon’s Michael Serviant, North Haverhill’s Nathan Swain, Grantham’s Conner Tilton and Springfield, Vt.’s Justin Cross, during May commencements.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304. Education-related news and announcements also can be sent to schoolnotes@vnews.com.