Have banjo, will travel.

That was the plan last week for Karen Eisenhauer, a recent graduate from Pitzer College who took flight July 30 for Taiwan.

Eisenhauer left this island for another after being awarded a Fulbright fellowship. She will spend the next year in Taiwan teaching English.

Though she was excited about winning a Fulbright grant, Eisenhauer said she was thrilled to have the chance to be an American cultural ambassador and teacher.

“It’s really not about me. I’m mostly excited to be a tool for kids to learn what they need to learn in order to be a success,” she said.

“Which I’m sort of stressed about,” Eisenhauer added with a laugh.

She said she didn’t know much about the teaching gig, other than it was full-time.

“Under eighth grade — that’s all I know,” she said.

Eisenhauer graduated from Pitzer College with a bachelor of science degree in May. The youngest of two — sister Emma, 26, is a country musician who lives in New Orleans, La. — Karen, 21, is the daughter of Dee Eisenhauer, pastor at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, and John Eisenhauer, an entrepreneur and CEO of Bainbridge Travel.

Eisenhauer has never visited Taiwan before, though she studied abroad for a semester in spring 2011 in Beijing, and she has heard how fabulous Taiwan is from her college roommate of three years, who is Taiwanese.

“I really hope it’s going to be a fun experience,” Eisenhauer said.

She said she was anxious about seeing what the big cities, the “raging metropolises,” are like.

“Also, let’s get real. I’m really excited for the food,” she said.

At Pitzer, Eisenhauer majored in linguistics and anthropology and graduated with honors.

Her first linguistics class in college had her “totally hooked,” she recalled.

Eisenhauer, who has spent 12 years learning French after facing a choice in seventh grade between French or computer science, also studied Mandarin in college.

A Bainbridge High Class of 2009 graduate, Eisenhauer found herself in good company as a Fulbright. Ten percent of her graduating class, about 25 other students, also earned fellowships.

Then again, Pitzer College is known as the place that forges Fulbright winners. The university has been the national leader in Fulbright fellowships over the past nine years.

Eisenhauer, however, had to be talked into trying to land a Fulbright grant.

An adviser at the school persuaded her to try to earn a fellowship.

“It was pretty hard for a while; I pulled a couple of all-nighters. It was really, really worth it in the end,” she said.

Eisenhauer was alone in her dorm room, getting set to leave for band practice, when she got the call telling her she had been selected.

“I was almost frustrated because I wanted to jump up and down with somebody but there was nobody there,” she said.

The fellowship will pay Eisenhauer’s travel costs to Taiwan and her living expenses over the next year.

Now, about that banjo.

Eisenhauer plays the banjo clawhammer style, and said she was taking her banjo with her to Taiwan.

She mostly plays “historical, old-time pieces,” she said, usually instrumental tunes from the early 1900s.

Though they are simple songs, and they may come in handy when she’s connecting with her new students.

“One of the lessons I learned in beginning French class was, if you can sing it, you can speak it,” she said.