91�ֿ�

The first time Olena Riabushenko, a teacher from Ukraine, came to 91�ֿ� was in 2021. The Kent Campus and the world at large were just beginning to reopen as the COVID-19 pandemic was winding down. 

She came to 91�ֿ� through the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program, a prestigious international academic exchange initiative sponsored by the U.S. government that has been running since 1946. At 91�ֿ�, the program is hosted by the Gerald H. Read Center for International and Intercultural Education within the College of Education and Human Services, in collaboration with the English as a Second Language Center in the College of  Sciences and Humanities.

The curriculum was focused on implementing AI into the English language classroom. 

“It was a fairly competitive program,” she said. “A colleague of mine from Ukraine and I came in April and May of 2021, right after COVID restrictions lifted. We were the first group to come after COVID. We were very lucky, because we were allowed to come and be here in person.”

This past summer, luck would bring her back to 91�ֿ� a second time.

A True Friendship Family

In February 2022, Riabushenko’s home country came under a full-scale invasion that is still ongoing. She was continuing her studies online when she got a call to come back to Kent.

Riabushenko said she didn’t expect to be at 91�ֿ� again, but returning was an easy decision thanks to her Friendship Family. The program pairs visiting international scholars with local host families who offer support and community during their stay.

“I didn’t expect to come back, but I built a really strong relationship with my Friendship Family [David and Jenna Dix]. We used to joke that they called me their ‘international daughter.’ When the war started in Ukraine, David [Dix] reached out and asked me to come with my kids, even just for a while. He said they’d help me find a job, so I’d be secure and not have to worry. He reached out just a few days after the full-scale invasion, at the end of February 2022. I told him I couldn’t go; I felt I needed to stay, but we kept in touch.

“Later, when I told him I was applying for my master’s and I told him I might end up going to a different state for my program, he said, ‘Come to Kent.’ I explained that it doesn’t quite work that way — universities make the offers — and he said, ‘Okay, you’ll come later.’ But sometimes it feels like people can sense these things before they happen. When I found out about the opportunity to do a summer internship, he encouraged me to do it here, and we planned it out. I applied, and I’m really glad I got to come back,” she said.

The Ripple Effect

When she returned to 91�ֿ� this past summer for the Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program, she was already in the U.S., pursuing her third master’s degree at the University of Illinois Chicago. The Muskie Professional Fellowship Program places selected Fulbright Foreign Scholarship grantees from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia in professional internship experiences designed to strengthen practical skills, expand professional networks and support participants’ long-term career goals in their home countries.

Despite the war at home, Riabushenko’s focus is on the positive impact she can make as a teacher. That’s the whole reason she’s here again. This time, she’s helping other international Fulbright Scholars find their way on campus and within the community. 

As an intern at the Read Center, she helped Pre-Academic Fulbright Scholars get familiar with 91�ֿ� and make the most of their time here. That included organizing group activities. On the day 91�ֿ� Today met with Riabushenko, she and the other Fulbright Scholars were on Front Campus to paint the Rock before wrapping up their time on campus.

“My favorite part of being at 91�ֿ� for the second time is that I had a chance to cooperate with international students, and I was also able to work as a program assistant and coordinate the work of the Friendship Families and the activities we had here at the Read Center,” she said. “I really liked being able to share my background and learn about the backgrounds of other people. The ideas that come out of working with them spark and enrich the overall experience I have here. I think it’s a unique thing about 91�ֿ� — having the chance to be exposed to international, global scholars.”

“In general, I really like the community here. I know many of the other Friendship Families, and I think this kind of cooperation between Friendship Families and 91�ֿ� is something other universities don’t really have — the whole program is designed around it, and we really appreciate that.”

Not only did Riabushenko get to interact with other global scholars, but she also had the chance to share her knowledge in impactful ways. During her first experience at 91�ֿ� in 2021, Riabushenko said she realized that being able to pass along her knowledge and experiences to other teachers rather than just her own students is a way to reach more students more efficiently – thus creating a ripple effect within education.

“Coming here expanded my view on things — when you’re a teacher, you want to pass knowledge to your students, but when you come here and work with teachers, you understand that if you teach a teacher, they’ll pass it on to their students, and the number of students who benefit rises rapidly. That’s why I really like training teachers — they become agents of change in their communities.”

What’s Next 

With master's degrees in English as a second language and educational management, Riabushenko has returned to the University of Illinois Chicago to complete her third master's degree. But she's not done yet.

Following her experience this past summer in the Muskie Fellowship Program, Riabushenko hopes to extend her time here with post-academic training. 

“I’d like to take a closer look at, and participate in, the American educational system, whether that’s secondary education or something like the Read Center — I’d like to see how it works from the inside, and continue studying here in the United States.”