Delaney Orewiler (BS psychology, French ‘24) is the winner of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award to Morocco for 2025-26. 

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa 

Could you give us a brief synopsis of what you'll be doing with your Fulbright? 
My Fulbright is an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) award to Morocco. However, the concept of an English teaching assistant isn’t common in Moroccan schools. I’ll likely be placed at a university where I will act as a stand-alone English professor and teach English language and culture classes. Outside of the classroom, I hope to run an English language and culture club and conduct further research on language diversity in Morocco. 

How do you envision this will influence your life/future career? 
In the future, I want to be a professor of linguistics and conduct research on linguistic diversity and sociolinguistics. I hope this Fulbright will help me create connections with faculty at Moroccan universities with whom I can collaborate on research projects. Morocco is a country of incredible language diversity, and I hope to bring my students on study abroad trips to experience Morocco’s rich culture and languages from a linguistic perspective. Additionally, I know this grant will help me develop my language skills in French, Modern Standard Arabic, and Darija, which will aid me as a linguistics professor, researcher, and world traveler. 

What advice do you have for students interested in applying for a Fulbright? 
For students applying for an ETA, I would say get involved in teaching English in Iowa City; there are countless organizations that connect volunteers with English learners, no experience needed! I worked with IC Compassion, a community organization with the goal of making immigrants and refugees feel safe, valued, and empowered in Iowa City, but there are several others. Another tip: if you’re interested in Fulbright at all, whether an ETA or research grant, set up a meeting with Sylvia Dean, the international grants assistant and second in command of the Fulbright team at Iowa. This team is dedicated to helping you succeed, and the first step is a meeting with Sylvia. 

For French speakers interested in an ETA, TAPIF (a program for U.S. graduates to teach English in French public schools) is a good step to Fulbright. I have been participating in this program this academic year in Lyon, France. 

A tip for undergraduate students interested in a Fulbright: get involved at Iowa. There are countless opportunities open to you. During my time at Iowa, I was the president of Francophones at Iowa, a member of Delta Gamma sorority, a research assistant in the COLLab, an undergraduate teaching assistant, a language ambassador, a senator with undergraduate student government, and a part of several other clubs that led me to where I am today.  

Were there experiences at Iowa that inspired you to pursue a Fulbright? 
Absolutely! There were countless experiences at Iowa that inspired me to pursue a Fulbright. During my second year at Iowa, I took Oral Expression in French I with Sohair Abul-Haija, and in the class, we had French conversation partners. My partner was from Morocco and introduced me to her country. During my third year at Iowa, I studied abroad in Lyon, France, during the summer of 2023. This study abroad experience completely changed my life. Before it, I had no idea what my next steps were. However, through my study abroad experience, I learned that I loved teaching and researching the intricacies of culture and language. I also worked as a teaching assistant (TA) under Lori Nelson for her Stereotyping and Prejudice and Psychology of Gender classes. TA’ing with Lori showed me just how much I loved teaching at the university level, which is why Morocco was so special to me (most ETAs place grantees in a classroom with another teacher; however, Morocco allows me to act as a stand-alone professor at the university level). At the same time, I worked as a research assistant in Dr. Susan Cook’s CoLLab. In the CoLLab, we conducted research on how and why people gesture when they speak. This experience showed me how research worked at the university level, and through this, I discovered my love for research. Then, during spring 2024, I completed my honors thesis for my BA in French with Dr. Emilie Destruel on language diversity in Morocco. This research project motivated me to choose Morocco as my Fulbright destination.

Ultimately, there are countless experiences at Iowa that inspired me to pursue a Fulbright. At the end of the day, just being a student at Iowa, surrounded by like-minded people who value culture, language, and diversity, opened countless doors for me to become the person I am today and to become a Fulbright ETA finalist. 

Are there individuals you'd like to thank for their investment in this process? 
So many! I want to thank the Fulbright team at Iowa, specifically Sylvia Dean, Karen Wachsmuth, and Kathleen Newman, who read countless copies of my personal statement and statement of grant purpose. I also want to thank my professors at Iowa, specifically Lori Nelson, who I TA’ed under; Emilie Destruel, who I did my honors thesis for French with; Susan Cook, whose lab I worked in; John Zbaracki; Rosemarie Scullion; Sohair Abul-Haija; Luis Martín-Estudillo; Wes Love; Downing Thomas; and Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez. I also want to thank Sarah Mooney, who was my advisor in my sorority and helped me develop into a stronger, more confident version of myself. A huge thank you to Kristin Schwab and Jaclyn Havill, who were the best bosses I could have asked for while working for Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County in Iowa City. Finally, I want to thank my family and friends, who were with me through every step of this process. To my friends who sat at cafes with me for countless hours while I wrote and rewrote my Fulbright essays—thank you. You are too numerous to even begin to list here but just know that I love all of you with my entire heart. To my parents and two sisters, Maddie and Savannah, thank you for always believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. And last but not least, thank you to the University of Iowa for being my home for the last four years. Go Hawks! 

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