Noel Hilst, a 2015 graduate of Bainbridge High School, has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for the 2019-2020 school year.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. government, is devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Hilst will serve as an English teaching assistant in Galicia, Spain. He is excited to be in Galicia, which, he noted, “is basically the Pacific Northwest of Spain.”

Hilst graduated summa cum Laude from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, on May 4, 2019, with bachelors of arts degrees in psychology and Spanish. He also completed a major honors undergraduate research project, was one of five graduates with a cumulative 4.0 GPA, and was presented with the John W. Raede scholarship for “outstanding scholastic achievement in the field of modern languages.”

During his final semester, Hilst served as an intern with Santa Barbara High School, working with immigrant students in the counseling office and bilingual classroom. One of the most rewarding parts of his internship, he said, is “getting to know the students as individuals and having the privilege of hearing and sharing in their stories.”

His future plans include pursuing graduate studies in Clinical Psychology. He is also a member of the Psi Chi National Honor Society, the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and the Sigma Delta Pi National Hispanic Honor Society. Noel is the son of Brian and Kristy Hilst of Bainbridge Island.