Fulbright Killam Fellowship supporting student's passion to change the world

“I have a very strong passion to change the world,” says Isaiah Collins, a fourth-year honours Bachelor of Arts student with an honours specialization in Psychology. He has taken the first step towards that goal by becoming the first King’s student to receive the prestigious Fulbright Killam Fellowship.

The Killam Fellowships Program provides an opportunity for exceptional undergraduate students from universities in Canada and the United States to spend a semester as an exchange student in the other country. Collins will spend a semester at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh. He participated in the orientation program in Ottawa in September.

Collins wants to eventually go to grad school and pursue a Ph.D. in industrial organizational psychology or organizational behaviour. His goal: conduct research with a focus on making workplaces more accessible for those with both visible and invisible disabilities. Collins, who has an invisible disability, wants to make a difference in the working world and research how to make working spaces more accessible for those with disabilities. “I’m convinced that this is my mission to change the world – one job at a time,” he says.

“You work thousands and thousands of hours in your lifetime. Just imagine if these spaces are not created to allow you to succeed. You can change someone’s life by just having a better working environment for people with disabilities,” he explains.

Collins says he was “blown away” to receive the Fellowship and feels proud to be the first Fulbright Killam Fellow from King’s. He recalls that, when he received the email from Fulbright confirming that he would receive the Fellowship, “it was like a dream come true.” The first people he contacted were his parents to share the good news with them.

“It means the world to me that it’s less about my accomplishments and more about the accomplishments of the department around me, and the teachers and professors who supported me and enriched my learning experience,” he says.

One of those professors is Dr. Hina Kalyal, Instructor in the School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics (MEM) and a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Kalyal was one of Collins’ references and says Collins truly deserves the award.

"I'm very excited for Isaiah on receiving the highly prestigious and competitive Fulbright Killam award. I have taught this bright and hard-working young man for over two years now and believe that he will greatly benefit from this experience academically and professionally,” says Dr. Kalyal, in welcoming Collins to the Fulbright family.

Collins was inspired by the Fulbright Fellows who came before him to go outside his comfort zone and enter an international program. While he admits the journey may seem daunting, it will also provide him with access to a wide array of mentors and networks for his future in academia.

To apply for the fellowship, Collins had to prepare a personal statement. He explains that, because the fellowship was focused on research and cultural understanding, he talked about his aspirations as a researcher.

The one-page personal statement went through several drafts but Collins received support from his mother, an author, who helped edit his work. In his statement, Collins wrote about how moving around a lot as a child helped prepare him for his move to London to attend King’s. “Fortunately, the fear of the unknown was less powerful than the ferocious fear of never knowing whom I could become.”

He also had to create a resume that encapsulated the learning he had done over his last four years at King’s and provide two references. In addition to Dr. Kalyal, Dr. Jennifer Jeffrey, Associate Professor and Director of the School of MEM, was another obvious choice, Collins says.

Collins is very excited as the Fulbright Fellowship will be his first experience as an international student. He has been supported by King’s International, especially He (Eric) Wang, International and Exchange Student Advisor, who helped him gain some experience through the Cross-Cultural College (CCC) Global Career Seminar. Collins was part of a team working with Ernst & Young, where he learned the value of cultural differences in the context of creative solutions and the challenges of completing cross-cultural communication. “I think it went a long way in my application,” he says.

“I hope to be able to grow and personally develop in an international environment,” he says. “First and foremost, I want to learn about the U.S. and how their culture and research environment is different. It’s really important in academia to grasp cross-cultural differences and having that exposure to the academic environment can only enrich me.”

Collins says King’s faculty have been very accommodating to his situation. “They understand that this is a life-changing experience and they’re supportive of me trying to make the most of my opportunities,” he says. He adds, “King’s has this amazing accessibility program that has allowed me to succeed during my time here.”

Over the past twenty-plus years, the Fulbright Killam Scholarship program has partnered with almost 45 institutions in Canada and the United States. Collins will join an impressive network of nearly 600 Killam Fellow alums and be the 14^th Killam Fellow at Western since the university began partnering with the program.