Fulbright scholar leaves for China

Published 11:10 pm Sunday, February 17, 2008

EVERETT — Two years ago, Sebrina Somers sold her house, quit her job and moved to China.

Now the 1994 Everett High School graduate is heading back with a 6-month-old baby and a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.

She plans to study different types of housing built by minorities in the Yunnan province. Huge apartment buildings are replacing more traditional homes in many parts of China, and Somers wants to help determine the environmental and public health benefits of traditional, minority homes.

She applied for the scholarship while living in China, studying the Mandarin dialect. Though she spent months working on her application, she said she didn’t expect to actually receive the award.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I didn’t think I was going to get it. I just kind of applied because it was one of those fantasy things for me. I was real happy.”

Somers was one of around 1,300 Americans to receive a Fulbright scholarship to travel abroad during the 2007-08 academic year. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Somers received a letter notifying her that she received a Fulbright last February. However, she and her husband, Justin Mann, decided to hold off on returning to China until their daughter was born.

Now that Madison Somers Mann is 6 months old, her parents are excited to expose her to new cultures and places.

“I’m just hoping it will be an experience that will help her become a world traveler,” Somers said, bouncing her daughter on her lap.

Somers grew up in the Bahamas and lived in Seattle for two years before moving to Everett in 1992. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and went on to receive a master’s of science in public health from Tulane University in New Orleans.

A few years ago, she worked for the Snohomish Health District in Everett. Her parents, Sadie and Stan Somers, still live in Everett.

Somers, Mann and their daughter were scheduled to fly to China on Sunday. They plan to find an apartment and stay for 10 months.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Mann, who wants to continue his work as a software consultant while abroad. “It’s an interesting country. Pretty much whatever your expectations before you get there, I can’t imagine them being met. It’s not better. It’s not worse. It’s just different.”

Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.