2014 - Page 14 of 15 - Fulbright Student Program Blog

All Problems Have Solutions: Insights from My Fulbright in Andalucía, Southern Spain

February 12, 2014

Julie Charbonnier, 2012-2013, Spain, collecting toad eggs in one of Doñana National Park’s ponds

Carmen Diaz Paniagua “Poli” knows this place like the back of her hand. “You’ll make a right at the tree with a stork nest, and then turn left when you see the road split into three,” she explains nonchalantly as I follow her through the terrain. All I see are miles of sands and a few scattered bushes, with no discernible landmarks. My Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant in Ecology on the consequences of global change on amphibian dynamics brought me to Doñana National Park, one of the world’s most renowned systems of wetlands tucked away in Southern Spain (Andalucía), two hours southwest of Sevilla.

A few days later, clearly lost as we attempt to follow Poli’s instructions, my labmates Rosa and Maria, and I bop around the dunes in a car. Rosa stopping and twisting the timeworn map sideways says “No! No me lo puedo creer (I can’t believe this),” as she makes a sharp U-turn, the car nearly tipping over. Maria smiles, saying, “todos los problemas tienen soluciones (all problems have solutions).” She’s still chipper despite our long detour in the desert. We finally find the pond, and it’s buzzing with insects and tadpoles. The species found in Doñana have evolved to withstand the heat and scarce rainfall. Doñana is incredibly unique: it’s a rest stop for half a million migratory birds, the last natural habitat of the elusive and endangered Iberian lynx, and home to eleven species of amphibians, the highest in all of Europe. It’s just one of the reasons I chose this spectacular location to conduct my Fulbright in collaboration with Dr. Ivan Gomez Mestre.

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Foreign Fulbright

Being an Agent for Change across Borders

February 5, 2014

Tam Nguyen, 2013-2015, Vietnam, visiting Harvard University

Over the past six months of my Fulbright journey, I have had wonderful opportunities to become a part of the Penn State Harrisburg (PSH) community and participate in Central Pennsylvania’s LGBT networks.

As a gay man born in Vietnam, educated in Singapore, with experience working for Eastern and Western organizations, I came to the United States with a multifaceted cultural heritage and identity. Initially, I worried if my complex identity would make it difficult for me to be a cultural ambassador. But PSH and my department, Community Psychology and Social Change, have welcomed me and appreciated every facet of my social character and skills, and have helped me to feel at home within a short period of time. Classroom conversations so far have been very engaging and a great opportunity for me to learn about American social issues while sharing my international perspectives. I have really enjoyed the diversity of backgrounds, and experiences that I have encountered, and the intellectually intriguing questions raised by my fellow students and professors. I have already grown tremendously from such exchanges.

Through PSH and my program, which is home to many passionate social change activists, I have connected with various networks such as the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania, and Penn State’s Diversity committee. Through these networks, I have been able to exchange ideas with like-minded people and also pursue possibilities to make PSH a better place for anyone who is LGBT.

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U.S. Fulbright

Two (or Three) Affiliates Are Better Than One: How Reaching out Can Enrich Your Grant Experience

January 29, 2014

Sarah Lima, 2011-2012, Albania

My heart beat fast as I read through the message a third time. Had I described my project clearly enough? Was there anything I had forgotten to include? Would she even remember me?

I had met Dr. Shpresa Gjongeçaj very briefly in 2007, when she had visited the site of Butrint. As head of the Albanian Institute of Archaeology, she was visiting the site to get reports on all of Butrint’s sub projects while I was working on prehistoric ceramics from several sites near the border of Greece and Albania.

Two years later, I was writing to ask Dr. Gjongeçaj to support my grant proposal to conduct an academic year of research as a Fulbright U.S. Student in Albania. Like most Fulbright applicants, I was intimidated by having to ask a professional with whom I hadn’t worked with extensively to support my project. Soliciting her support would mean that my project vision would officially be out there to be evaluated. It would also mean that my project was taking shape and that I was embarking down a set path. But I worried about what would happen if my project required me to change the path I was on. I quelled my uncertainties and hit send.

I’m confident that many other prospective Fulbrighters have had this same experience; hitting send, or dialing that last digit on your phone’s keypad, or dropping an envelope into the mailbox, are not easy things to do when you’re contacting a potential host affiliate.

I want to share how my experience engaging multiple host affiliates actually increased my efficiency in completing my application and helped clarify my proposal. Having multiple host affiliates also made my project more versatile, and kept me active during my grant period in Tirana, which in turn gave me opportunities that I hadn’t even contemplated when I put the proposal together.

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Foreign Fulbright

From India to New York: Going Global through Fulbright

January 22, 2014

Left to right: Suchi Gaur, 2012-2013, Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow from India, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gilard, and University of Texas, El Paso Professor of Communications Arvind Singhal, attending a session on polio eradication during the United Nations General Assembly 2012

There are many aspects of what it means to be a Fulbrighter. For instance, it changes not only how people identify you, but how you see yourself and the world. The amount of exposure to different cultures and experience that Fulbright provides is immense. The feeling of being a 2012-2013 Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow from India started sinking in the day I attended the pre-departure orientation. Being chosen as a representative of my country was huge. I knew that what I that my experience researching community radio and participatory communication in the United States would be different from my previous experiences in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and I was very much looking forward to it.

When I attended the Gateway Orientation at Virginia Commonwealth University, the feeling of ‘going global’ overcame me, and I realized just how huge a responsibility being a Fulbrighter is. During the orientation, I learned much about the American Civil War and also from my fellow Fulbrighters from all over the world.

When I arrived at New York University’s (NYU’s) Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, I knew that as a Development Communication and Extension Specialist from India, NYU was going to be a great place to analyze global development, not just by studying what is happening within the field in the United States, but also by meeting with representatives from different countries. My Fulbright research focuses on community radio stations as models of participatory communication, and I intend to use my findings on American community radio stations’ financial and volunteer management when I return to India. Understanding the similarities and differences between Indian and American models will be particularly helpful in developing an in-depth analysis of global community radio stations’ best practices.

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U.S. Fulbright

Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship applications are due on Wednesday, January 22! Have you reviewed the online application checklist?

January 21, 2014

If you’ve been working on a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship application, you know that the deadline for applications is tomorrow!

All Fulbright-Clinton online applications are due on Wednesday, January 22 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

We strongly recommend that you fully review the checklist before submitting your materials.

Before Submitting the Application

Check for typos—misspellings, capitalization errors, grammatical mistakes, etc.

Make sure that all of the required fields on the Biographical Data pages have been filled in, including the Project Title and Abstract of Proposal sections.

Check to make sure that the Statement of Grant Purpose, the Personal Statement, the supplemental Essay, your English and host country language Resumes, and your transcripts have been uploaded into the correct sections of the application.

Confirm that recommenders and language evaluators have submitted their documents.

Preview the complete application in the Embark system.

Print a copy of the application for your records.

Have last minute questions? Please feel free to contact us. Good luck!

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U.S. Fulbright

My Fulbright Year as a Franz Schubert-Singing Linebacker

January 15, 2014

Deenaus Polk (center), 2011-2012, Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Germany, with some of his students from Grade 11 Berufsfachschule Class I

Serving as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Germany provided many teachable moments. I approached my time as a Fulbright ETA with a specific goal in mind: I wanted to serve as a creative force, pushing my students to dream big and to elevate themselves towards heights they had never dreamed possible. As is usually the case with a bright-eyed, altruistic notion, I ran into a mighty brick wall – namely, the interest of my students.

My initial attempts at serving as a teaching assistant relied heavily on discussing the latest gossip on “important” topics such as Nicki Minaj, whether or not Tupac was still living, and if the Dallas Mavericks (Dirk Nowitzki is German!) could repeat as NBA Champions. Everything else fell on deaf ears. An eventual breakthrough came via an unexpected avenue – classical music. I have a huge love for classical music. Listening to it propels me through life, sparking all sorts of creative thought. Further, performing it with others is the ultimate form of diplomacy. For me, there’s nothing better than coming together with people you don’t know, especially in another country, and working together to understand, perfect, and perform a piece like Antonín Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater.” One day during class, I referenced Tom and Jerry and the prevalence of classical music within cartoons. I got nothing but blank stares in return. They had no clue what I was talking about! This sparked not only a slew of lessons, but also drastically altered my time as an ETA. I had the confidence needed to become the cool, ‘Mr. D.’ This allowed me to connect with students on a personal level. Several students attended my performances with a local choir. I also played semi-pro ‘American football’ with one of my students for a local team and would routinely tell our coach if he didn’t turn in his homework!

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