Recipients of the Fulbright scholarship are chosen based on academic and personal accomplishments, as well as leadership potential. Kerdlap recently graduated from the University of North Carolina, and presently is studying the Thai language at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
According to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Kerdlap is one of approximately 1,700 Americans who will travel abroad for the upcoming academic year.
The Fulbright Program was created in 1946. It is the flagship international educational exchange program, designed to increase international understanding. The U.S. Congress principally pays for the program, which operates in more than 150 countries around the world.
Forty-four Fulbright alumni from a dozen countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, with 78 receiving Pulitzer Prizes. Kerdlap praised the school district and added he hoped this could benefit the community.
“I think this shows that the Eastchester school system really does breed students who area able to do things they wish to achieve and set their minds to,” he said. “I haven’t been able to give back to Eastchester High School, and this is one way I hope to do so.”
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