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Emily Berry 鈥�24 MSCP was awarded one of the 2,000 Fulbright grants given to U.S. scholars every year. About three weeks ago, she headed to Mexico to work as an English teaching assistant, while also enhancing her professional skills for her future career as psychologist. Berry is currently pursuing an 隆Enlaces! [Links] certificate alongside her marriage and family therapy master鈥檚 in counseling psychology, which provide students who have a Spanish language proficiency to practice using professional psychological terminology and learn about the diverse cultural factors involved in counseling Spanish-speaking clients.

Unlike many of her classmates who may speak Spanish at home, Berry is the only one in her family who speaks Spanish, having first pursued it throughout high school. When she began her undergraduate studies at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, Berry knew that she wanted to help people in her career but had no clear vision as to what that looked like. That changed when she went abroad for the first time with a friend on a volunteer mission to Guatemala. 鈥淚 was able to talk to the people there, and I loved that,鈥� she said.

She thought she鈥檇 minor in Spanish to maintain her proficiency, but a cross-cultural psychology class established the trajectory for her psychology/Spanish double major and her life鈥檚 pursuits. The travel bug in her was deepened when she received a scholarship to go to Japan for a two-week cultural exchange, where she met people from all around the world. She also completed a semester study abroad program in Spain.

A Spanish-language professor at McKendree planted the Fulbright bug in Berry鈥檚 ear and catapulted her into a cycle of travel-based, cultural experiences supported by scholarships and work assignments. Following graduation in December 2019, she participated in City Year Miami, an AmeriCorps program, while applying for the Peace Corps and a Fulbright. 鈥淚 was offered a position with the Peace Corps,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I declined it because I hadn鈥檛 heard from Fulbright yet. I didn鈥檛 get the Fulbright, but neither program proceeded because of COVID.鈥� Berry spent the summer of 2020 working at a school in South Florida before moving to San Francisco with AmeriCorps to work with elementary school students for a year. 

Berry thrived in San Francisco, living in a co-op space with 70 housemates. 鈥淭he atmosphere was like college 鈥� without the homework and tests,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was great because I got to meet people from all over the world. Everyone was more grown up than college students 鈥� more respectful and open minded. And I really enjoyed the work with my students. Many of them were monolingual at the beginning, and it was really satisfying to watch them grow and become bilingual.鈥�

In August 2021, Berry headed for the Mount, and undeterred by her previous failure, she applied for the Fulbright again, this time successfully. 鈥淚 like competition,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚f my professor believed I was a great candidate for a Fulbright, why not keep trying? Persistence is good.

鈥淭he Fulbright is a huge network, and I love making connections with people and being able to relate to others. I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity and help me with my career endeavors. The majority of Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. are from Mexico and for me, wanting to be a therapist and, in the future, a psychologist, it鈥檚 important that I understand the culture. Only 5% of psychologists in the U.S. speak Spanish, so going to Mexico is a wonderful opportunity for me to better my language skills.鈥�

Berry鈥檚 desire to help others stems from having had a brain tumor as a young child.  While the tumor was ultimately surgically removed, the treatments affected her heart and left her slightly disabled. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 let that stop me from doing things,鈥� she says. Even at that young age, she was the one consoling her parents. 鈥淚 told them that I was going to be fine. I have a very optimistic mindset in the sense that whatever happens, happens. It was a challenge to overcome, and that鈥檚 the way life is.鈥� 

Now that she is studying psychology, Berry feels that her family could have benefited from formal therapy during her illness. 鈥淚 think that my family was really busy worrying about me,鈥� she explains, 鈥渁nd in turn, their emotions caught up with them. When everything settles and you look around, it鈥檚 very interesting to see how events manifest into certain behaviors.

鈥淚鈥檝e psychoanalyzed my family a million times,鈥� she laughs.

Her career plans include myriad goals that she would like to accomplish in the future, such as writing a book, obtaining a PsyD, working at a hospital and helping kids who have experienced some type of trauma, and, of course, more travel and cultural experiences. 鈥淰ariety is the spice of life,鈥� says Berry. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember the last time I was bored. When I want something, I鈥檒l put my entire being into making it happen.鈥� 

Berry loves the small classes and personalized attention from the 隆Enlances! program. 鈥淢y professors have been so kind and helpful; their encouragement and communication have helped me grow tremendously,鈥� says Berry. 鈥淣ancy Ballesteros [department chair and assistant professor of language and culture] helped me practice for the Fulbright interview and she evaluated my Spanish, so that was super helpful, too!鈥�

She is also very grateful for the connections she has built with her cohort. 鈥淎 lot of my classmates are Latinx so they have been a big inspiration 鈥� their Spanish is on a different level! I strive to be as fluent someday.鈥�

Berry鈥檚 mantra is 鈥渙pen your mind and dream big.鈥� Another core value is a Zulu word she picked up during City Year Miami: ubuntu, which means 鈥業 am a person through other people.' 鈥淚n other words,鈥� says Berry, 鈥渕y humanity is tied to yours. I absolutely love that because it鈥檚 so true. We鈥檙e all connected.鈥�