Amherst native Emma Barnes, a member of the women’s cross country team and Nordic skiing team at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, was recently awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Scholarship.

A May graduate of Saint Michael’s, Barnes will teach English in Indonesia during the 2018-19 school year, as she is set to depart in late July and return home in late May.

“I started looking at applying for the Fulbright last summer because I wasn’t able to study abroad during college because of sports and classes,” said Barnes. “So it seemed like a great way to have the experience of living in another country without having to sacrifice the other things that I cared about and liked doing while at Saint Mike’s.”

Barnes, the daughter of Jacob and Kristin Barnes of Amherst, isn’t sure which age level she will work with.

She said other ETAs perform research while abroad, but she will be placed in a classroom with Indonesian youths and their English teacher while sharing her experiences about life in the United States and serving as a native speaker assistant.

Barnes served as a captain for her final two Nordic skiing seasons, landing on the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association (USCSCA) National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team twice.

The mathematics and economics major and Dean’s List student was among her team’s Top Three finishers at all 47 career events, including topping the squad 28 times.

In three years of cross country, Barnes earned a spot on Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll five times due to academic success. She was on the Purple Knights’ NE10 Championship squad twice.