Mercer Island resident Jean Laschever, 22, was recently awarded a Fulbright scholarship by the Washington, D.C.-based Council for International Exchange of Scholars, which administers the program.

Laschever was notified of the award shortly before her May 23 graduation from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.

The prestigious scholarship award is in the public health category for her proposal to study HIV/AIDS policy in India. The grant will cover all travel and living costs to support her work while studying in India.

Laschever will leave this August for Lady Doak College in Tamil Nadu, India, where she will spend nine to 12 months in the country’s southern-most state. Tamil Nadu has one of the highest HIV/AIDS affliction rates in India, according to Laschever.

The 2005 Mercer Island High School graduate also excelled in athletics, lettering 12 times at MIHS, participating in cross country and track. But most remember her exploits as a four-year varsity wrestler, winning several matches against male competitors in her 112-pound weight class.

Laschever continued wrestling for a time at Pacific, one of a small number of colleges and universities that supported a women’s wrestling program.

Laschever graduated with a 3.86 cumulative grade point average, earning a dual degree in sociology and social work and minors in political science and psychology.

She was joined by her parents, Eulalie and Eric, and sister, Beth, at her graduation ceremony last weekend.