Haleigh Morgan of Bloomingdale is seen at the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake Friday. She was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and in January, she will begin teaching English in Malaysia. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

SARANAC LAKE — Haleigh Morgan didn’t know much about Malaysia at the start of the year, and that’s what made it so intriguing.

“It’s really far away and different from the U.S.,” she said. “I had been to Southeast Asia once before, but I really don’t know anything about Malaysian culture.”

Morgan, who graduated from the University at Buffalo in May with an English degree, was recently awarded a scholarship from the Fulbright Program, an initiative based around cultural exchange and education across national borders.

In January, Morgan will travel to Malaysia and help teach middle school children conversational English skills.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. government and issues scholarships to about 8,000 people annually.

Morgan is the daughter of Dermott and the late Elizabeth Morgan, and stepdaughter of Jody Duffy-Morgan.

Before she starts her teaching, Morgan said she’ll have to take a month-long orientation, learning the basics of the Malay language.

“It’s just a little bit of learning because the program wants you to just speak English mostly,” she said. “It kind of forces the students to use their conversational English more.

“I do wish I had learned more of the language before going, though. I’m a little nervous about not knowing enough.”

There are plenty of groups such as Fulbright, the Peace Corps and EPIK that offer English-as-a-second-language programs. They’re often seen as a way to help open doors for students from schools in underdeveloped countries.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s become so much of a necessity, but if you can speak English, that can help you rise out of poverty or get you a career outside of your home country,” Morgan said. “In the U.S., we don’t have to speak a second language, which is sadly the case. In Europe, plenty of people speak multiple languages, and that’s the same for a lot of Asian countries, too.”

English is the third most common language on Earth, behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

“English is sort of the global language,” she said.

Morgan said her Asian studies professor at UB, Walter Hakala, encouraged her to apply for the scholarship.

“It was a fairly long process,” Morgan said. “I had to write a couple of essays, and one that was more like a grant application. It took about a month to complete, and then the actual selection process took six months.”

On Friday night, Morgan’s family and friends held a dinner at the Hotel Saranac, celebrating her being awarded the scholarship.

One guest there was Carol Reyell, Morgan’s seventh-grade English teacher in Saranac Lake Middle School. Back then, Morgan was learning about Tom Sawyer and William Shakespeare.

Reyell said Morgan will be a good representative in Malaysia.

“I can tell Haleigh’s excited,” she said. “She was a little shy in middle school when I had her, but she’s much more verbal now and anxious to immerse herself in the work.

“It seemed very natural Haleigh got this scholarship. As a teacher, you have to love to read and write, and the main goal is to get the students to love to read and write as well. Going on to be an English major in college is a big compliment to an English teacher. I’m very proud of her.”