It was on a whim that Anna Rudberg '01 decided to check her Hinman Box just before taking off on a quick spring break road trip to Quebec City. Excited to be free from the latest chapter of her honors thesis for a few days, she did not realize the magnitude of the letter she was about to read informing her that she had been selected as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship to Sweden.
A geography major and Russian literature minor, Rudberg will spend next year at Uppsala University in Sweden to research the changing immigration and cultural issues within the country.
For Rudberg, it was both a shock and a thrill to learn of her acceptance into the prestigious and highly competitive graduate scholarship program.
"I always thought it would be really neat to spend a year in Europe after graduation," she said. "I never expected I'd actually get [the Fulbright Scholarship]."
Rudberg decided to apply to the program after spending two terms abroad in Eastern Europe, first for the Geography Foreign Study Program in Prague her junior spring and then to complete summer research on the Buryat people in Ulan Ude, Siberia.
Sweden was the natural choice for Rudberg, who is of Swedish descent. In fact, she still has family living in the country and can speak some Swedish.
While still in Siberia, Rudberg started contacting Swedish universities about the possibility of studying at their geography departments. After returning to her native Arizona before her senior fall, Rudberg often had to stay up until 2 a.m. to make her phone calls due to the nine hour time difference.
Because the Fulbright applications are due so quickly after Dartmouth's fall term begins, it was a scramble for Rudberg to get her proposal, personal statement, and references prepared by the deadline.
Rudberg interviewed with the College to secure Dartmouth's endorsement, after which her application was sent on to the regional competition for review. After being recommended by the United States, Sweden's Fulbright Scholarship committee ultimately accepted her candidacy to study in Uppsala.
Though the application process was a monumental undertaking and involved many all-nighters for Rudberg, she enjoyed the experience.
"I felt like I really got to put myself into the application," she said. "It was something I was excited about, so I think that made the work easier."
Geography Professor Laura Conkey, a close faculty friend, has been working with Rudberg on her senior honor thesis and also supported her in her Fulbright application.
"She is just the best person. She is so kind, you love it when somebody like this receives this kind of honor," said Conkey of her student, "We're proud."
Rudberg's roommate Ellen Pfeiffer '01 was equally proud of her longtime best friend's accomplishments.
"I honestly believe that Anna can do whatever she dreams of," said Pfeiffer. "She has boundless energy and is truly in love with life."
According to Marilyn Grundy, the Scholarship and Fellowship Advisor at Career Services, Dartmouth students typically win five or six Fulbright Scholarships each year, as well as other graduate fellowships. Because the different countries offering Fulbright Scholarships announce their winners at different times, other candidates will not know of their acceptance until later this spring.
Rudberg chose to come to Dartmouth to try living in a completely new area, and she was excited to become involved in all the different activities the College offers. In addition to the Geography FSP and also the Russian FSP, Rudberg has participated in the Marching Band, the fencing team, the adult literacy program at Tucker and in DOC and Cabin & Trail events. She spent the summer after freshman year working at a summer camp in Sweden.
She became interested in geography for the diversity that the field offered and because of the caring professors she found within the small department.
After finishing her studies in Sweden, Rudberg is considering entering the Peace Corps or doing work for other non-profit organizations.
She plans to attend graduate school and hopes to eventually settle back to her roots in a small town somewhere in the American Midwest.
For now, though, she is mostly looking ahead to Sweden and graduation.
"I'm really lucky to have been at Dartmouth," said Rudberg, citing the strength of the College's extracurricular activities, academic departments, people and foreign study programs.
"Your Dartmouth experience is just made even more diverse and worldly by all that."
