Cochise College history and anthropology instructor Rebecca Orozco has been selected to the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program for next year. In summer 2013, she’ll travel to China for a month-long visit as one of 16 postsecondary educators to get a full taste of China’s history, culture and society.

Becky Orozco at the top of her climb to Gran Meteora, a monastery in Greece perched on a rock spire 250 steps up.

Orozco is known as quite the world traveler around the college, but this will be her first visit to China. She worked previously as an archeologist in Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala, and spent time as a tour guide to several different spots around the world.

“I have always loved to travel and learn about other cultures and places,” said Orozco, who just returned from a month in Greece to find her Fulbright-Hays acceptance letter in the mail. “I have been lucky to live and travel outside the U.S. quite a bit. Anthropology/archeology was my undergraduate degree, so I have been very fortunate to be able to see first-hand the cultures and remains of the people I studied.”

Orozco earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Arizona. Prior to her latest stint as an instructor at the college, Orozco worked with the Center for Southwest Studies, which eventually combined with the Workforce Training and Community Education department to form what is now the Center for Lifelong Learning.

Orozco was the first director of CLL and held the position until moving to her full-time faculty position last year. In addition to teaching in the classroom, she can often be found giving presentations about her world travels for professional development sessions or at CLL’s free weekly Brown Bag Lunch Lectures on campus during the school year.

The Fulbright-Hays Program, created in 1963, provides grants to educators at all levels, including teachers, administrators and graduate students, and organizations to fund research and training efforts overseas. It’s under the umbrella of the Fulbright Program, which was implemented in 1946 under legislation introduced by Sen. J. William Fulbright. According to its website, the purpose of the Fulbright Program is to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”

Orozco heard about Fulbright-Hays from fellow Cochise College instructor Dave Pettes, who went to India through Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad in the 1980s. Before Orozco, the most recent Fulbright scholar at the college was music instructor and Bi-national Chorus director Lori Keyne, who earned a Fulbright Border Award in 2011 to collaborate in researching and teaching with academic institutions in Mexico.

Orozco applied for the Fulbright-Hays Program four years ago, but only made it to the alternate level. She reapplied for the 2012 program and was accepted, but the Congressional budget debate led to delays in funding that affected when the China program would take place. Funding eventually came through, so summer 2013 will see two trips to China – one for the 2012 class and one for the regularly-scheduled 2013 class.

Fulbright-Hays Programs for postsecondary educators also included Oman and United Arab Emirates as an option, but Orozco listed China as her first choice. Orozco will be the only one in her program from Arizona.

“I really want to visit China, but I also wanted to participate in this kind of learning adventure,” she said “I also know this is a huge gap in my knowledge bank and want to learn a lot more.”

Want to know more about what Cochise College has to offer? Click here.