Fulbright Scholarship for Olivia Gonzalez

Graduating student will teach English in Spain

—By Maria Iacobo

Olivia Gonzalez ’08 has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for the coming academic year. 

Olivia Gonzalez '08

Gonzalez will be travelling to Madrid, Spain, where she will serve as a teaching assistant in English for secondary school students. She also plans to compare the European Union’s legal system to that of the United States.

“It came as a surprise,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve never been to Europe and I am really looking forward to both the program and travelling as much as I can.”

Gonzalez, a native of Nicaragua, moved to the U.S. as a toddler so her parents could complete their education; her dad earned a Ph.D. and her mom a master's degree. She was raised in Seattle and earned degrees in government and Spanish at Claremont McKenna College before enrolling at USC.

As an undergraduate, Gonzalez taught English as a Second Language to new immigrants employed at the college, an experience she found rewarding.

When exams are over, Gonzalez will study for the bar before moving to Madrid.

“Who knows what I’ll do after the Fulbright,” she said. “I do know that I, like many people, have loans to pay off. I want to practice law, but I don’t know for how long. I may want to do something more in the transactional world.

“I’m about as open as a field right now. But, if there’s one thing these three years in law school have taught me, it is that it’s okay to change my mind.”