Alani Verges grew up in Miami, with parents from Cuba and Nicaragua and a grandfather from China, but feels she never fully appreciated the diverse cultures outside of South Florida until college, when she was introduced to Korean pop music and film.
It piqued her interest enough that Verges went on to pursue a master’s degree in international business at the University of Miami, which gave her the chance to meet students from many other countries at the Miami Herbert Business School. Two classmates who quickly became friends were from India and China, and their conversations only amplified Verges’ interest in learning about other cultures.
“Getting a chance to talk to them definitely influenced me to get out of my comfort zone and to talk to people with very different life experiences,” Verges said.
Now, two years after earning her master’s at the University, Verges will be able to immerse herself in a new country for nearly a year as she was named a Fulbright U.S. Student Program finalist late this summer. She is now the eighth University of Miami awardee for the 2025-2026 cycle, making it the largest cohort of Fulbright U.S. Student Program finalists in a decade.
“We weren’t surprised but were definitely excited—we were really holding out for her,” said Erika Green Liberus, director of the Prestigious Awards and Fellowships unit in the Office of Academic Enhancement. “Alani had been working with us the entire application cycle, which is nice because she wasn’t on campus all the time. She is an alumna but made it a priority to use the resources we offer to navigate the application cycle.”
That cycle typically starts in the spring, since students are required to submit their applications by October, Liberus added, so Verges began working with them over a year ago. A group of University faculty members on the Fulbright review committee works with students and alumni throughout the summer to revise their applications before the fall submission deadline.
To take part in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Verges will be leaving her hometown of Miami in January and moving to South Korea for a year to teach English to students there with about 70 other Fulbright awardees, who will be dispersed across the country. She is thrilled to learn more about Korean culture and to see the place where many of her favorite films and music came from.
Associate professor Chei Hwee Chua, who directs the Master of International Business program, said Alani is uniquely suited for the Fulbright since she served as a liaison to the administration as well as a mentor for many of her classmates, especially those who struggled a bit with their English. Her patience and kindness even earned her the Student Leadership Award.
“She stepped up and carried the teams she was in during class and helped them understand course materials better,” Chua said. “She was hardworking, resilient, made friends easily, and even helped organize a cultural immersion experience outside of class for the program too.”
Although she found out about her award this summer, Verges took some time before accepting her Fulbright because her mother passed away unexpectedly. Still, she decided to attend because her mother had encouraged her as she applied for the Fulbright.
“Everyone in my family was so supportive of me and said, ‘It was a gift from her’ and ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’ so I thought about that when I accepted the award,” she said.
The experience also aligns closely with Verges’ career goals. For the past year, she has been a program associate at Global Ties Miami, a nonprofit that organizes international leadership experiences for mid-career professionals from other nations through government grants. For example, she once had a group of firefighters from Brazil but also recently hosted a group of Pacific Islanders. In her role, Verges organizes meetings with local companies, organizations, and government agencies in the visitors’ field of expertise, as well as some cultural activities to orient them to Miami.
Verges also served as a tutor in the past year for On Your Mark, a remote service where she worked with students from across the United States to gain experience in the education field.
“I’m a big believer you have to constantly learn, and I’ve always wanted to accelerate my education and to see how I grow as a person, professionally and personally,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to doing this.”
Her grandfather, who left China at 18 to move to Nicaragua, is especially thrilled.
“He understands how pivotal it is to go to a different country, so he is very excited for me,” she said.
After the Fulbright, Verges hopes to apply for a job with the U.S. government or with an international development organization where she can draw on her new global perspective.
“As someone interested in international diplomacy, this will help me learn from others and have that perspective of not just growing up in America but getting to talk to people from other walks of life, so I am looking forward to accelerating those dialogues,” she said.
