Derya Taspinar '25 Earns Fulbright to Spain

Share with us what you will be doing next year in Spain.
From September 2026 to June 2027, I’ll be in Galicia, Spain, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA). I’m really excited to be working in a plurilingual school, where I’ll collaborate with teachers and support students as they learn English. Beyond the classroom, I’ll also be involved in a couple of community projects, giving me the chance to connect more deeply with the local community and take part in cultural and language exchange outside the classroom.

What are you looking forward to the most?
I’m really excited about the whole experience! I can’t wait to live and work in a region of Spain I’ve never been to, and be immersed in its history and culture. I’m also really looking forward to meeting new people, learning from different perspectives, and growing from those experiences. At the same time, I’m excited to share what I know - helping others learn English and improving my Spanish along the way. Being able to learn and give back at the same time is what makes this feel especially meaningful to me.

How did Oberlin shape or influence you to pursue the Fulbright?
Oberlin played a huge role in shaping my decision to pursue Fulbright. I always knew I loved traveling and connecting with people from different cultures. Through my psychology courses, and my own experience being bilingual in English and Turkish, I already understood how important language learning can be. It wasn’t until I took Language Pedagogy 301 with Professor Kim Faber that everything really came together.

Through that class, I joined SITES and taught Spanish to kindergarten and first-grade students twice a week. Seeing how quickly they picked up the language was so rewarding. I also learned about the cognitive benefits of language learning at a young age, such as improved executive functioning and greater empathy for people from different backgrounds. While I had done some English tutoring in Spain before, it was through SITES that I learned concrete teaching strategies that motivated students while staying in the target language. That experience really solidified my interest in language education and cross-cultural exchange, and it’s what ultimately inspired me to apply for Fulbright.

How does pursuing the Fulbright align with your post-college life and career goals?
Being a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant is an incredible and meaningful opportunity for me right now. This experience will allow me to work closely with youth in multicultural and multilingual settings while developing skills that are essential to my future work in psychology. Teaching in an immersive environment will strengthen my communication, cultural awareness, adaptability, and ability to build trust and engagement across differences—skills that are central to working with diverse populations. After my time in Spain, I plan to pursue a master’s degree in developmental psychology, and the Fulbright experience provides an important bridge between my academic training and the kind of culturally responsive clinical work I hope to pursue.

What’s the best advice you’ve received from your Oberlin faculty mentor?
The piece of advice that has stuck with me the most was from Professor Cindy Frantz, chair of the psychology department. While being one of her research assistants during my senior year, she always made me feel more at ease about life after Oberlin. I often felt like my peers all knew what career path they wanted to take right after college, and I felt insecure about not being as certain. Professor Frantz told me about how her life post-undergrad involved many jobs that might not have aligned with her current career, but were all still helpful in getting her to where she is today. She assured me that there was no rush to “figure everything out” now, but to get different experiences, compare and contrast, and to learn more about myself and my interests along the way.

If you’re a rising or graduating senior interested in Fulbright, connect with Fellowships & Awards to learn more about pursuing research or an arts project, obtaining a graduate degree, or teaching English in a foreign country of your choice following graduation.