Carmel Valley student to become Fulbright scholar

Shannon Perrone, a student from Carmel Valley who graduated from the University of Tennessee earlier this month, will teach in Brazil next year as a Fulbright scholar.

“I was shocked,” said Perrone, who graduated from Canyon Crest Academy in 2016. “This is an incredibly competitive scholarship.”

Starting in February 2021, Perrone will be teaching English to post-graduate students in Brazil who are going to become teachers.

She applied for the Fulbright program last year, before finishing her degree in world business, Spanish and global studies. After being notified in January that her application made it to the semifinal round of selection, she completed an interview in April and found out that she won the scholarship two days later.

During an internship in 2018, Perrone translated Portuguese to English for Brazilian media outlets. Community service she’s participated in throughout the years includes serving food to children in Tijuana and building houses in Baja California. She also once spent a summer in Paraguay through the Amigos de las Americas program.

There have been hundreds of thousands of Fulbright scholars who have served all over the world since the program began more than 70 years ago under the Truman administration. U.S. citizens who have bachelor’s degrees or other education-related credentials are eligible to serve.

Perrone said she wants to pursue a master’s degree in education and either teach in higher ed or start a nonprofit that teaches English to immigrants who are non-neurotypical. -- Report by Luke Harold