Like most college students, Cassie Iutzi-Mitchell's spring schedule has been chock-full of papers to write and assignments to finish. But come August, the 20-year-old University of Alaska Anchorage graduate will embark on the adventure of her young life, thanks to a Fulbright research grant.
For her senior thesis in Spanish language, Iutzi-Mitchell researched the language and cultural barriers faced by Spanish-speaking patients seeking health care in Anchorage. Ron Spatz, UAA's dean of undergraduate research and scholarship, encouraged her last fall to apply for a Fulbright grant to extend her project internationally.
The Fulbright Program, administered by the U.S. State Department, is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and the people of other countries.
Since its inception in 1946, it has given more than 250,000 graduate students, scholars, professionals, teachers and administrators an opportunity to study and teach in 150 countries. About 6,000 grants were awarded through the organization's six programs during academic year 2003-04.
With only seven weeks until the application deadline, Iutzi-Mitchell scrambled to build her case. Her experience as a Rotary Club exchange student in Argentina during her junior year in high school had spurred her to pursue a language degree at UAA, so she sought a Spanish-speaking country for the Fulbright project, she said.
"The first thing we had to do is figure out where in Latin America I wanted to go so I could make a valid argument for sending me there."
Her team of advisers helped her brainstorm, then hung in through late-night calls and editing sessions. UAA adjunct professor Enrique Quintero put her in touch with his sister, Maria Quintero, who volunteers with the National Advisory Council for Indigenous Women of Ecuador in Quito.
Maria agreed to host Iutzi-Mitchell for her 10-month stay, during which she will research the effects cultural and language differences might have on medical care provided to the Quechua-speaking natives of Ecuador.
Quechua (pronounced keshwa) is an indigenous language still spoken by about 13 million people in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, northern Chile, Argentina and southern Colombia.
A two-page project proposal, three letters of recommendation, personal essay, college transcripts and a letter of affiliation from Maria Quintero won Iutzi-Mitchell the grant. Hers is believed to be the first Fulbright awarded to a UAA student to fund undergraduate research, said Lori Keim of the office of university relations.
"As far as anyone can recollect, this has never happened before," she said. "She was up against thousands of graduate students in the process."
The grant will pay for airfare, room and board, health insurance and a stipend to fund her research during her stay in Ecuador. She will be required to give an update on her research to the Fulbright Institute at mid-year and another at the end of her project.
"Cassie is one of the brightest, most motivated students in this department," said Francisco Miranda, one of her UAA advisers. "This is the first time we got to be such ambitious dreamers. It encourages us."
In a way, Iutzi-Mitchell has been preparing her whole life for this opportunity. As the daughter of teacher Amy Iutzi, who lives in Juneau, and linguist Roy Mitchell of Irvine, Calif., she and her younger sister Laura moved frequently. During her school years, the family lived in Quinhagak, Bethel, Nome and Barrow. She graduated as valedictorian of Juneau-Douglas High School in 2002.
"I was able to draw parallels between the large Native community here and the large Native community in Ecuador" for the grant application, she said.
She learned to speak Yupik during first grade in Quinhagak, on the southwest coast of Alaska, and some Yupik language instruction continued at the school in Bethel after her family moved there.
She doesn't speak Quechua yet, but she is eager for the challenge.
"I've had the experience of learning a language that is not a Germanic or romance language, so I think my brain will be a little more comfortable learning Quechua. My plan is to learn as much as possible to make the research easier."
Iutzi-Mitchell believes Alaskans offer a certain cachet when it comes to national competition, and urges her fellow students to exploit it.
"The Alaska advantage is great when it comes to writing personal essays," she said. "Growing up as a minority in Alaska communities gave me a unique upbringing. Because of that, I think I can adapt to Ecuador and learn from the people who live there."
Although she will graduate with the UAA class of 2005 today with a bachelor of arts degree in language, she has been working simultaneously on a bachelor of science degree in biology, with an eye toward medical school.
"I'm really excited that I got this Fulbright, but when I get back I need to focus on science classes."
Daily News reporter Rose Cox can be reached at rcox@adn.com.
UAA RESEARCH AWARD WINNERS
University of Alaska Anchorage undergraduate research awards were presented to the following students April 15 in the UAA/APU Consortium Library.
2004-2005 Undergraduate Research Grants: Heather Arkinson, Virginia Cress, Cedar Cussins, Joel Hunt, Cassie Iutzi-Mitchell (Fulbright Research Grant), Lorraine Perez Castillo (Alaska Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), Rebecca Prieto, Eric Sjoden
2004-2005 Discovery Grants: Max Konovalov, Anastasia Mironova, Jerod Morehouse, Kevin Sheridan
2005 Discovery Award: Randy Tedor
2005 Consortium Library Prize: Erin Trimble, Truman Scholarship
Goldwater Scholarship: Ben Nolting
Alaska INBRE, Biomedical Research Excellence: Reem Sheikh
Spring 2005 Undergraduate Research Grants: Julia Cohen, David Persinger
Undergraduate research at UAA is made possible through the support of KeyBank, UAA's Undergraduate Research Fund, Dorin and Argentina Parasca and the UAA/APU Consortium Library.
