Teaching English in South America feels like the perfect next step for Sophia Jones ’24, who majored in educational studies and minored in Hispanic studies at Trinity College. As she continues to build a career in the field of language education, the alumna has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program Grant that will take her to Argentina next year.
Jones came to Trinity from San Anselmo, California, initially interested in studying history. “On a whim, I took the educational studies introductory course, ‘Analyzing Schools,’ and fell in love with the content,” she said. “I was fascinated by how layered and complex the U.S. school system is and how intertwined school systems are with history. I ended up finding that policy is what ties schools with history, which is why I concentrated in educational policy.”
Studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, during her time at Trinity helped Jones further improve her Spanish language skills. Rather than working toward becoming a Spanish teacher, Jones pursued language education from a researcher’s perspective, digging into policy and curriculum development. “You can really see how much policy directly impacts the individual student’s experience,” she said.
Jones decided to combine her interests in education and exploring other cultures by applying to the Fulbright Program last year. “It sounded like an amazing opportunity for me to gain some more experience in language classrooms and also fulfilled a passion to engage in cross-cultural exchange,” she said. “Through the intense application process, I learned a lot about myself and what I want to do.”
The grant period is March through November 2026, following the Argentine school calendar. “I’ll be teaching in a postsecondary school, and I hope to be working in a classroom where individuals are in training to be EFL [English as a foreign language] teachers themselves. It would be magical to instruct people who have a shared passion for language education and getting to work with future language educators,” Jones said. “This will let me interact with learners one-on-one, so that when I do get to work in policy, I’ll have teaching experience to bring an informed perspective to benefit students.”
In her role as a cultural ambassador through the Fulbright Program, Jones plans to host a family games club. “I see informal activities like games as a conduit for cultural exchange,” she said. “For additional host country engagement, and because I loved my track and field team at Trinity so much, I want to create a running group, bringing what I learned from the Trinity track community and recreating that in Argentina.”
At Trinity, in addition to being a short-distance sprinter, Jones was the women’s track and field representative for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She also was a teaching assistant for a Spanish course and served as a Spanish tutor for Trinity’s Blume Language Lab. In addition, she was a global ambassador for the Office of Study Away, completed the Community Learning Research Fellows Colloquium her senior year, and conducted research through the Public Humanities Collaborative. Jones worked closely on projects with Hartford Public Schools; her senior thesis was based on observations of students at a bilingual school in Hartford.
Coincidentally, two other Fulbright students from Trinity’s Class of 2024—Sarah Durkee ’24 and Felix Thompson ’24—were in the same first-year program as Jones, the Humanities Gateway. “With the liberal arts curriculum at Trinity, I was always having intellectual conversations with people of different backgrounds and wide-ranging interests,” Jones said. “Spending time in that environment, it isn’t a surprise to me that so many students end up applying to Fulbright and getting grants, as Trinity invites those interactions regularly.”
Jones said that she had several mentors at Trinity who inspired and encouraged her: Aidali Aponte-Aviles, senior lecturer in language and culture studies; Elise Castillo, assistant professor of educational studies; Robert Cotto Jr., director of DEI campus and community engagement; Britney L. Jones, former visiting professor of educational studies; and John Michael Mason ’12, M’14, assistant professor of physical education and director of cross country and track and field.
Castillo said that she was consistently impressed with Jones’s intellectual curiosity and sharp analytic thinking. “In courses that involved partnerships with Hartford students and community members, Sophia always sought ways to learn from and develop meaningful connections with people whose cultural, racial, and language backgrounds differed from her own,” Castillo said. “I have no doubt that Sophia will similarly work to build meaningful relationships with her peers and students in Argentina.”
Mason added, “Sophia is determined, optimistic, adaptable, and lets her achievements speak for themselves. She is a quick learner, a respectful communicator, and an amazing teammate—not to mention an amazing athlete. I’m so excited to see what the future holds for her.”
Since graduating from Trinity last year, Jones has served as an English as a second language tutor, a classroom volunteer in the Bay Area, and a ski instructor in Park City, Utah. She currently works for an educational technology start-up company.
“I’m hoping the Fulbright experience will inspire me about where to go next,” Jones said. “I’m also open to pursuing a master’s degree—maybe in linguistics, educational policy, or TESOL [teaching English to speakers of other languages]. There are so many directions I can go that involve developing policy and curricula for language educators. I’m excited to see how my perspective about these possibilities expands by living and teaching in Argentina.”
Students interested in learning more about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program should contact Mark Hughes in the Trinity College Grants Office.
