Madison Josephson was in her classroom at Mississippi Heights Elementary School in Sauk Rapids when the College of Saint Benedict senior got the news that she is one of three CSB and SJU students on the list of this year’s Fulbright grant recipients.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, places recent college graduates as English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) in schools and universities overseas. The ETAs improve international students’ English abilities and knowledge of the U.S., while enhancing their own language skills and knowledge of the host country.
Josephson, CSB junior Gianna Demo and SJU senior Riley Buxell were each named among this year’s recipients, making them the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Fulbright awardees from CSB and SJU in the past 11 years alone.
“It was like ‘OMG, this is crazy,’” recalled Josephson, an elementary education major. “I was so excited. I’m student-teaching this semester, so it was really cool I was able to share the news with my class.”
Josephson, a New Prague High School graduate, and Buxell, who graduated from Stillwater, will both be teaching in Spain. Their assignments will run from September of this year until June of 2027.
Demo, a junior from Lakeville North High, who is graduating one semester early next fall, will begin her posting to Uruguay in March of 2027.
“My mom is a teacher, and my dad was also a teacher at one point,” said Demo, a Hispanic Studies major (with minors in Secondary Education and Teaching English as a Second Language) who was studying abroad in Seville, Spain this past semester. “They both had a strong influence on me growing up in how they served others. I’ve always wanted to be in a position to help and connect with others.”
“I started learning Spanish when I was a freshman in high school,” continued Demo, who has served as secretary of the CSB+SJU Education Club board, “And I have genuinely enjoyed every class I’ve taken since then. I did a short-term exchange program in Alicante, Spain the summer before my senior year in high school and I had a very positive experience, which inspired me to continue on this path.
“I knew I wanted to use my background in Spanish and spend some time teaching English abroad. Uruguay was a part of the world I wasn’t as familiar with, so I’m very interested in discovering more about the culture there. Fulbright also seemed like a program I really wanted to be a part of.”
Buxell, a psychology and Hispanic studies double major, has also been taking Spanish classes since he was in seventh grade. He really got interested in the Fulbright program after talking with 2022 CSB graduate Regan Dolezal, the sister of his current roommate and fellow SJU senior Finn Dolezal.
Regan also took part in the program, teaching in Czechia (the Czech Republic).
“She knew I wanted to take this coming year to look at programs where I could go abroad and teach English,” said Buxell, who played soccer at SJU and was part of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). “She introduced me to the Fulbright program, and ever since then, I’ve become obsessed with learning more about what they do and what their mission is. I couldn’t be more excited to get the chance to be part of it.”
Buxell said the support he received from the campus community – led by Phil Kronebusch, a professor of political science and coordinator of competitive fellowships at CSB and SJU, and Trisa Schaeffer, the senior associate director in the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholars – helped make his acceptance possible.
“(Kronebusch) was incredibly helpful,” Buxell said. “He knows every step of the process so well. He helped walk me through everything. So many of my professors were also willing to take the time to write letters of recommendation or help me with my language assessment.
“Then there were Johnnie and Bennie Fulbright alums who helped me during the application process. There are so many resources available to students here. That was so valuable.”
Josephson – who has been the general manager of the Clemens Perk coffee shop on the CSB campus this past school year – echoed those sentiments.
“The application process can be a little overwhelming, but (Kronebusch) helped me a lot by breaking it down into smaller pieces,” she said. “I also got a lot of valuable feedback during the interview process and I used that to change my application, which I think really helped me move on to the next round.”
All three hope the experience they gain as Fulbrights comes in handy as they pursue their future career paths.
“There are endless things to learn in the world and so much experience to gain,” Demo said. “My goal is to gain new perspectives and further develop myself, both as a teacher and an individual. I think by doing that, I’ll be better able to relate to students of all backgrounds – whoever and wherever they may be.”
“I’d like to eventually teach somewhere around the Twin Cities, and I know I’ll have a wide variety of learners in any classroom I’m in,” Josephson added. “I’m hoping my experience with Fulbright will help me get more perspective and show me different ways to teach, so that when I do come back to my own classroom, I’ll have a better grasp on how some of my language learners are feeling.
“I’ll know better what it’s like to be in the shoes of students whose first language isn’t English.”
“I’m still open to a wide variety of careers,” Buxell said. “I originally intended to go to law school, and I think I will at some point. But I wanted to take a gap year first and Fulbright is giving me the opportunity to use that time to do something of value and substance – something bigger than myself.
“That really appealed to me.”