Mountain Brook native to teach in Spain as part of prestigious Fulbright program

Simona Shirley, a Mountain Brook resident and recent graduate of The University of Alabama at Birmingham, believes it’s important for people to have an interest in other cultures.

“I think the most effective way to make progress in our world is to work together with people of all different backgrounds and cultures and to learn from one another,” Shirley said. “The best ideas come from stepping outside of what’s familiar to you.”

Shirley, who graduated from UAB on April 30 with a degree in international relations and a minor in Spanish, will soon have a great opportunity to follow her beliefs.

In September, she will move to Madrid, Spain, for nine months to serve as an English teaching assistant as part of the prestigious Fulbright United States Student Program.

The Fulbright program is an international exchange program established in 1946 through legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.

During their time abroad, Fulbright scholars live, work and gain daily experience of the cultures in their host countries.

It was announced April 20 that Shirley and 10 other current or former UAB students had been named Fulbright semifinalists.

“I was so happy,” Shirley said.

“I was really hesitant to apply for Fulbright at first because it seemed too far-fetched and I wasn’t sure if I had a chance, but I’m so glad I did,” she said.

In early May, Shirley learned that she had been named a finalist and would be going to Spain.

While at UAB, Shirley — who plans to become a physician — was part of the Early Medical School Acceptance Program.

But to make her trip to Spain possible, she has deferred her seat in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine by a year and will start the program in 2023.

A Mountain Brook native, Shirley attended Brookwood Forest Elementary, Mountain Brook Junior High and Mountain Brook High School, graduating in 2018.

During her freshman year at UAB, Shirley was already in pre-med and declared a

biology major.

However, she knew she would study biology “really intensely” in medical school.

So Shirley looked for another major so she could “pursue other interests” and give herself “a more well-rounded education.”

Her international studies major made her feel “more informed about the world,” she said.

“It’s also shown me how much I don’t know and how many different ways of life and different perspectives there are out there,” Shirley said.

During college, Shirley also volunteered often as a teacher including working with children in writing classes at the Birmingham nonprofit Desert Island Supply Company.

“I’ve learned I enjoy teaching,” she said.

This led her to choose the teaching assistant option on her Fulbright application, and she thinks that this experience will aid her career.

“The skills you learn as a teacher, such as empathy and thoughtful communication, are very relevant to being a good physician, which is my ultimate goal,” she said.

Shirley, who has family in Romania, chose Spain in her Fulbright application because that nation is regarded as a leader in the European Union in providing more equitable treatment for the Roma people.

The Roma people, a traditionally nomadic people who are often referred to incorrectly as “Gypsies,” have long faced prejudice in Europe.

Shirley would like to help change that.

“When I’m not teaching, I hope to get involved with local nonprofits in Spain which assist Roma people, and I’d like to learn from their strategies for combating systemic discrimination of ethnic minorities, she said.