A Mid-Pacific Institute alumna has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Kenya starting this fall.

Carolyn Pearce, a senior at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, will work at a hospital in rural western Kenya to study a cervical cancer screening program.

Pearce, a 2007 graduate of Mid-Pac, said her teachers at the Manoa school "taught me how to think and problem-solve."

Pearce came to the islands when she was 10 and started at Mid-Pac in sixth grade.

She will receive her bachelor’s degree in public health studies from Johns Hopkins this month. Her yearlong Fulbright scholarship kicks off this fall.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards scholarships to outstanding graduating seniors, graduate students and young professionals for study abroad.

About 1,500 scholarships are awarded each year.

In Kenya, Pearce plans to study the perceptions of cervical concern among women. Cervical cancer is the primary cancer killer of females in the region.

Pearce has previously worked in Kenya, thanks to a grant secured through her university.

Before heading back to Africa, Pearce plans to take another big trip: This summer, she’ll cycle across the country — from Baltimore to Seattle — with an organization called 4K for Cancer.

Pearce will be with 29 other riders, who will stop in towns along the way to participate in public service activities.