2017 - Page 4 of 9 - Fulbright Student Program Blog

Pro Tips for Acing the Fulbright Campus Interview

August 31, 2017

Clockwise from left: Shayak Sengupta, 2015-2016, India, Emily Yedinak, 2013-2014, Chile, Yuriy Veytskin, 2013-2014, Australia, and Gwyneth Talley, 2015-2015, Morocco

On-Campus interview season is coming up! This can be a nerve-wracking time for those of you applying to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program through your college or university. Try not to worry, though – the interview is a way to add a “face” to your Fulbright application and get helpful feedback.

You’ll hit submit on the Embark Online Application before your campus deadline, your on-campus Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) will schedule an on-campus interview, and you will then have the chance to explain and defend your project. This interview is an additional element to your application when your campus committee rates and recommends you. After the interview, your FPA will re-open your application, allowing you to adjust it before the final national deadline. As Fulbright U.S. Student Alumni Ambassadors, we’ve been through this process before and have created a Q & A about campus interviews to help you prepare.

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U.S. Fulbright

Wind, Solar, and Sloths: A Recap of 10 Months in Peru

August 29, 2017

Hai-Vu Phan, 2016-2017, Fulbright Public Policy Fellow to Peru, visiting a solar energy plant near Tacna, Peru. (Photo credit: Maximo Meza)

As a 2016-2017 Fulbright Public Policy Fellow to Peru, I have served as a technical assistant within Peru’s energy regulatory agency, the Supervisory Organization for Investment in Energy and Mines (Osinergmin), for ten months. I am also concurrently a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California, where my interest and dissertation research focuses on renewable energy policies.

During my tenure at Osinergmin, I have helped my office publish a special report on the energy consumption ladder and a book on renewable energy. Additionally, I assisted on a number of internal projects, including academic chapters and articles, reports, institutional memoranda, and a research paper. I also conducted a weekly English conversation seminar for my colleagues. Lunch breaks and downtimes gave me the opportunity to speak with my coworkers about Peru’s energy situation and my own research. Aside from my formal work, there were also many opportunities for me to connect and make lasting friendships with my coworkers.

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How I Built a Global Network through Music

August 25, 2017

Benjamin Cohn, 2014-2015, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow to Ghana, interviewing rap artist Reggie Rockstone in Accra

The 10 months I spent in Ghana for my Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship were the most supportive and constructive of my life. Sure, I faced new challenges every day, even insurmountable ones occasionally, but between my home communities, the Fulbright Program, and the new relationships I made in Ghana, I have never been more prepared to take risks.

Prior to applying, I had always considered Fulbright to be for “other people” until, at a networking meeting, I was told to consider it by the Executive Director of the Fulbright Association, an independent U.S. alumni organization. Upon further investigation, I realized that Fulbright’s goals aligned with my own more than I ever expected. Traveling has played a large part in my development; being exposed to different experiences, worldviews, and perspectives has 100 percent changed me for the better. Senator Fulbright believed that to be true for individuals, and even more so for nations.

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Program Update: Open Study/Research Grants for Master’s Degrees in Israel

August 21, 2017

Tel Aviv University Campus

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is pleased to announce that a master’s degree option is now available for the first time for applicants to Israel in the 2018-2019 application cycle. A total of eight Open Study/Research awards are available.

Candidates interested in pursuing a master’s degree in Israel now have the opportunity to enroll in a degree-seeking program at Tel Aviv University in one of several fields of study, including Conflict Resolution and Mediation, Middle Eastern Studies, and an International LLM in Security and Diplomacy Studies.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright

PHOTO ESSAY: Williamson, West Virginia, Revisited.

August 15, 2017

Editor’s note: In April 2017, twelve Fulbrighters engaged in a week-long service learning project in Williamson, West Virginia, an Appalachian community with valuable lessons to share about sustainability, perseverance and revitalization. This is one in a series of blog posts from the Fulbrighters who visited Williamson. This post by Fulbright Foreign Student from Colombia, Jorge Caraballo, who accompanied the group as a photojournalist, captures the Fulbrighters’ experiences in Williamson, as well as their engagement with local American community leaders. Visit the Fulbright Amizade 2017 Storify for more details on their journey.

Last year I had to interrupt my first visit to Williamson because of a family emergency. I remember flying over the Appalachians on my way back to Boston feeling a soft window-seat nostalgia: This small city in southern West Virginia reminded me a lot of Colombia, my home country. I also grew up surrounded by mountains and immersed in a culture with a strong sense of belonging. Three days were enough for me to create a strong connection with Williamson and its people.

By Jorge Caraballo, 2015-2017, Colombia

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An Engineer’s Unlikely Journey Down Under on Fulbright

August 7, 2017

Yuriy Veytskin, 2013-2014, Australia, visiting Ayers Rock at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

It was August of 2012 when I first heard about the opportunity that would change my life. How I heard about it was rather direct and unromantic: a simple email from the Fulbright Program Adviser at North Carolina State University, my alma mater, listing all of the science-related Fulbright Programs available that year. I had heard about Fulbright before, but the idea of applying for a grant in the middle of my PhD program seemed daunting and unrealistic. Setting all doubts aside, I figured I would ask my adviser for more information and take it from there. Little did I know, this would be the start of two months of dedicated, and at times frantic, application writing in order to meet the internal university and national deadlines. Unlike some other applicants, I started my application quite late and only had about five weeks to submit all of my materials by the internal campus deadline. Unfazed, I worked diligently for hours to complete my Fulbright application while also taking my graduate courses. For my affiliation letter, I cold emailed a few scientists in my potential host country, Australia, hoping that they might forward my request to the appropriate contacts. The affiliation letter I received ended up being highly detailed and focused, signed by my three prospective advisers, and was likely a major contributing factor to the success of my application.

After going through countless iterations of my Statement of Grant Purpose and Personal Statement with the assistance of my Fulbright Program Adviser, I was able to submit my application by the internal university deadline.

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