Sofia Taylor, a 2024 UMW graduate, has won a Fulbright Award to continue her studies in Germany.
Sofia Taylor was just settling into a new role as a research assistant when she received news that would redirect her path and send her across the Atlantic.
Taylor – a 2024 University of Mary Washington graduate who majored in psychology, with a double-minor in music and neuroscience – had won a U.S. government-sponsored Fulbright Award to continue her research in Germany.
“When I read the acceptance letter I just started crying,” Taylor said about the notification that posted to her portal while she was on vacation with family. “There were happy tears ready to spring out every time I told someone I got the award.”
She joins decades of UMW grads who’ve earned grants from the prestigious Fulbright Program. Among the world’s most competitive international exchange initiatives, it aims to support cross-cultural education and boost connections around the globe. Taylor’s grant will take her to the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, which researches music and neuropsychology. There, she’ll continue the work she started at Mary Washington, examining the impacts of recorded versus live musical performances on positive emotions and dopamine function in young adults. Read more.