Bryn Mawr Alum Awarded Fulbright, Continues Lifelong Commitment to Cross-Cultural Exchange

Daniella Jacob, a Posse Houston alum and 2026 graduate of Bryn Mawr College, has been selected for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Bulgaria. Through the program, Daniella will teach English at the Vocational School of Tourism in Samokov, a small town located southwest of Sofia.

For Daniella, the opportunity represents the continuation of a lifelong commitment to building connections across cultures and communities.

“When I applied to Fulbright, I knew I had always been in a position of intercultural exchange my whole life,” says Daniella. “Being a second-generation Indian American girl, I lived in an intergenerational household and a mixed culture community. My childhood featured me teaching my grandparents English as they taught me Indian cultural norms.”

That early experience shaped the way Daniella understands language, identity and cultural identity. As a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, she will have the opportunity to engage in that work on a broader scale while learning from the communities she serves.

“To be selected as a Fulbright ETA means that I’m being trusted to continue using this muscle of cross-cultural exchange, but at an even bigger scale,” says Daniella. “I am being chosen to represent American culture as I learn from Bulgarian culture.”

Daniella’s placement in Samokov is particularly meaningful because many of the students she will work with are of Roma descent, a population that has faced generations of discrimination and limited educational and economic opportunities throughout Europe. At the vocational school, she hopes English instruction can help expand students’ access to future career pathways.

“The biggest honor of the whole Fulbright is that I have been trusted with the unique placement I have in Samokov,” says Daniella. “I am grateful to have been placed at Samokov’s Vocational School of Tourism, where I will be able to equip students with English, in hopes that this can open a door for them to gain more career mobility.”

Her studies as a Religion major and Anthropology minor at Bryn Mawr provided a strong foundation for the work ahead. Through her coursework, Daniella explored how people make meaning of their experiences, navigate cultural differences and express their values through everyday actions.

“My research and education in Religion and Anthropology have ultimately led me to understand one principle: what people say is not always what they mean,” says Daniella. “Essentially, the things people do are more telling than what they say.”

That perspective was reinforced during time spent living abroad in Chile, where she learned that trust, care and belonging can be communicated even when language barriers exist. She hopes those lessons will help her build authentic relationships with her students in Bulgaria.

Following her Fulbright experience, Daniella will begin a Ph.D. program in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia in fall 2027. She hopes her time in Bulgaria will deepen her understanding of how people develop aspirations, make life choices and navigate the systems that shape their opportunities.

“In my application to Fulbright, I leaned into the idea that words create worlds,” says Daniella. “I hope to display unconditional positive regard for my students. I hope I can teach my students that although progress may not always look linear, their performance does not disqualify them from being deserving of respect.”