Fulbright Fellow Kiyo White ’26 Heads Back to Taiwan
The education and psychology double major will return to the country that holds professional and personal promise
In the spring of her first year at Colby, Kiyo White ’26 grabbed a meal with Angie Sohn ’23, a senior who had just been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship.
“We talked about it, and it just sat in my brain for a few years,” said White, recalling the first time she’d learned about the fellowship.
While the idea of a Fulbright Fellowship fermented, White honed her scholarship in educational psychology, studied educational systems in four countries, and completed an international teaching practicum in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
Those experiences confirmed her interest in pursuing a Fulbright. By the time she applied as a senior, she had built a résumé reflective of her commitment to multicultural learning.
Everything came together this spring when White was awarded a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Fellowship. Fulbrighters, as recipients are informally known, act as cultural ambassadors for the United States and assist with English language instruction in local schools.
White has been assigned to co-teach in Yilan, Taiwan, in the country’s north. She’s excited to return to Taiwan and experience a different part of the country.
“I’m hoping to build strong relationships with the local community and within the Fulbright community,” said White, an education and psychology double major from Natick, Mass. “I also want to learn how to be more independent, grow my confidence and ability to communicate, and make connections with people who have different backgrounds than me.”
In the true Fulbright spirit, she added, “And share anything I have to give.”
Intellectual curiosity
While White is solidly committed to the field of educational psychology, she came to Colby wanting to study anything but education. White’s mother is a teacher, and she knows how hard teachers work. She didn’t think it was for her.
“Now, I love education,” laughed White, who is considering a career as a school psychologist. She credits Colby for teaching her about alternative pathways into education beyond classroom teaching. “Colby really helped me realize those opportunities, and then pushed me to keep growing.”
Through courses in the Education and Psychology departments, White studied how children learn and the tools that promote it. She also served as a research assistant in both departments, and she spent the summer after her sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in its Summer Education Research Program (SERP).
As a SERP scholar, White worked closely with an educational psychologist who is designing tools to support bi- and multilingual learners. She conducted research, created a national survey for teachers, and gathered data that informed the researcher’s work. The program made her consider graduate school for the first time.
“The program was amazing. Absolutely incredible,” she said, adding that it encourages students from underrepresented backgrounds to consider doctoral work. White is multiethnic, the daughter of a Chinese-American mother and a white father.
Back on campus, White took courses that emphasized social justice, cultural humility, and cultural adaptations. They shifted how she looked at her work. “Now, I think about everything I do with more of a cultural lens, thinking about different groups of people and asking myself if my designs would work for everybody.”
Some of those courses were taught by Assistant Professor of Education Pei Pei Liu, who studies student motivation and engagement.
“Kiyo has consistently impressed me with her intellectual curiosity and independence, her deep engagement with the nuances of student learning and development, and the authentic collaboration and support she offers her peers,” said Liu. “She has the knowledge, creativity, and work ethic to design transformative learning experiences for students, and her collegiality and self-awareness will be incredible assets to her as a Fulbrighter.”
Off to Yilan
Even though she most likely won’t become a teacher, White understands the value of spending time in the classroom.
“I think teaching experience is super valuable, which is why I’m doing the Fulbright. I need to have that background in order to inform the work I do.”
White won’t know specifics about her placement in Yilan until she arrives in August for a three-week training, but she expects to be placed in an elementary school. Yilan was one of her top choices, and she couldn’t be more thrilled to be placed in the northeastern county about an hour from Taipei.
Yilan was the first location in Taiwan to have a Fulbright ETA program, placing Americans in local schools beginning in 2003. As the country’s incubator for the ETA model, Yilan initiated the program’s expansion across Taiwan, with 150 placements this year.
White plans to fully participate in Yilan’s close-knit, historically rich environment. In contrast to Taiwan’s large metropolitan areas, Yilan offers opportunities to engage in local communities’ cultural celebrations, neighborhood activities, and aboriginal heritage programs.
To give back, White hopes to provide mentorship to students outside of the classroom and teach outdoor skills she learned as a member of Colby’s Outing Club. She’s also eager to speak and improve her Mandarin and to learn local Taiwanese dialects, especially in classrooms that incorporate those languages.
‘Kiyo has the knowledge, creativity, and work ethic to design transformative learning experiences for students, and her collegiality and self-awareness will be incredible assets to her as a Fulbrighter.’
Assistant Professor of Education Pei Pei Liu
The importance of people
White has another interest in Taiwan: it’s where her parents met. They both attended Boston University, but they didn’t meet until their paths crossed later in Taiwan, where her mother was teaching English and her father had a job in high tech. So, while her family is not Taiwanese, she feels a strong connection to the country.
“Sometimes you just want to know a little bit more about your parents. It’s very unique that they met in Taiwan,” she said.
White’s paternal family is from Vassalboro, Maine, 10 miles from Waterville, and still lives in the area. She spent summers in central Maine growing up, which drew her to Colby. Her maternal grandmother immigrated from Guangdong in southern China, and her mother and aunts were raised in Boston’s Chinatown.
By spending more time in Taiwan, White anticipates learning more about herself through her parents’ story. “I think you have more of an appreciation for where you’re coming from and how you’ve ended up here.”
White isn’t sure what her future holds, but she hopes a year as a Fulbrighter will offer direction and clarity. The personal and professional connections she develops will also reinforce a defining lesson she learned at Colby: the importance of people.
“You can push, and you can want certain academic and career achievements. But the most important thing I came away with is how to balance relationships and work life,” she said.
“At the end of the day, it’s the people who are really the most important.”
