Hola!
My name is Liz Baran, and I’m a 23-year-old Fulbright ETA Grantee in Barranquilla, Colombia. Growing up in the small town of Metuchen, New Jersey made me want to move away and travel the world. I found out about the Fulbright Program when I was a Freshman in high school, and it became my most desired ambition. In high school, I took Spanish classes, and I fell in love with the language, literature, and learning about different cultures. By the time I graduated high school, I was already fluent in Spanish because I had dedicated so much hard work and time to learning the language. More importantly, however, I had two absolutely amazing teachers in high school who taught me so much.
When I was a sophomore in college, I joined the Latino Student Council at Rutgers University and began working with different campus organizations to provide resources to immigrant communities in the surrounding New Brunswick area. I led service trips to advocate for student loans and financial aid for undocumented students. I also taught free SAT classes to students at New Brunswick High School. Most of my students were children of immigrants, and they were extremely dedicated to their higher education to make their parents’ sacrifices worth it.
