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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

Sharing Brilliance, Sharing Innovation

August 9, 2016

Jarod Yong, 2015-2017, Malaysia (third from left), taking a break with a few of his 2016 Millennial Train Project colleagues

Greetings from Kansas City! We are currently halfway through our Millennial Train Project (MTP) journey and it has really been a blast so far. Together with the MTP staff and mentors, we have travelled to Pittsburgh and Chicago. We have just left Kansas City for Albuquerque and will subsequently head to Los Angeles. Amongst the 25 participants on the train are three Fulbrighters from Peru, Germany, and Malaysia.

After getting to know everyone during the journey, I was blown away by their experiences, achievements, and projects. It is a great feeling to know that I have been sharing the same air with some of the most brilliant and innovative people in this country. Additionally, a deep kinship developed between us in the tight quarters of the train. We had so many laughs and tears together.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

Change Participants

August 8, 2016

Yanoa Carrasco, 2015-2017, Peru, in front of one of the Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen “Shuttlecocks” sculptures at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri

Greetings from the 2016 Millennial Trains Project (MTP). You may be wondering what MTP is. Well, let me explain. It’s a train journey across the United States for a diverse group of young leaders and innovators. Thanks to the Fulbright Program, I am having a great trip experience and making new friends: millennials from different parts of the United States and two other Fulbright Foreign Students, one from Germany and the other from Malaysia.

I’m currently doing a master’s degree in museum studies at New York University, so when I learned about the MTP, I decided to apply to conduct research about community engagement in museums. Through my project, I want to create an awareness of the importance of collecting, preserving and interpreting local and/or regional history. One of the best ways to do this is to involve a local community and create engaging activities that will allow them to discover and interpret the world around them. Institutions like museums and cultural centers are currently evolving into spaces of knowledge and personal reflection; places where communities can go and discuss specific topics while creating their own narratives about them.

The goal of my MTP journey is to explore different participatory and engaging experiences offered by museums in order to spread the word about those activities and inspire others to create similar programs all around the world.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project

Meet the Fulbright Millennial Trains Project Participants

July 21, 2016

The U.S. Department of State has selected the following six Fulbright Foreign Students to participate in the fourth Millennial Trains Project (MTP) installment across the United States as a special enrichment component of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. This year the six Fulbrighters will be split between two MTP journeys, Change and Unity, joining 44 American Millennial riders who will traverse the country gaining a deeper understanding of life in the United States and social entrepreneurship. The special enrichment activity will give participants an opportunity to explore a research topic of their choice in-depth, and strengthen their leadership and communication skills.

Throughout the two journeys, participants will be sharing their experiences through social media using #MTPtrain and #Fulbright and here on this blog. Follow along in real time!

CHANGE // AUGUST 1 – 7

PITTSBURGH >> CHICAGO >> KANSAS CITY >> ALBUQUERQUE >> LOS ANGELES

Desirée Barao Garcia is a Fulbright Student from Germany.

DESIRÉE BARAO GARCIA

Germany // Enhancing Small Businesses’ Performances

Desirée received her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the Technical University of Dortmund in Germany and is now completing a master’s of science in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Columbia University in New York as a Fulbright Student. Her previous work experience includes various industries (automobile, logistics, consulting, steel, fashion, etc.) and companies of different sizes (from 3 to 35K+). She is currently the president of GradSWE and a Global Guide for One-to-World’s Global Classroom Project.

Desirée’s MTP project will research challenges facing small businesses to find national and international similarities so that small businesses around the world can learn from each other’s mistakes and successes and adjust accordingly. She will meet with small business owners across the United States to find out how they are performing, what challenges they face, and conduct research on what those businesses can do to perform better and stay in business long-term.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright

Highlights from the 2016 Pittsburgh Fulbright Lab to Market: Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation Enrichment Seminar

June 3, 2016

Prior to the collapse of the U.S. steel industry, Pittsburgh was known as a powerhouse for both coal mining and steel. Today, Pittsburgh is still called the Steel City, but now finds itself at the forefront of high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

The 2016 Lab to Market: Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation Enrichment Seminar gathered 132 Foreign Fulbrighters from 64 countries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from May 24 – 28, 2016 to exchange ideas with a focus on how technological advances can support achievements across scientific and business disciplines. The seminar included discussions with Pittsburgh-based entrepreneurs who are bringing technological products and services to the marketplace.

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Enrichment Foreign Fulbright

Highlights from the 2016 Philadelphia Fulbright Enrichment Seminar

May 12, 2016

In the city of brotherly love, 125 Fulbright Foreign Students from over 60 countries gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May 5 – 8, 2016 to explore U.S. political values and traditions, the electoral process, and the current presidential campaign.

Tom Healy, a member on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, provided inspirational remarks at the opening dinner held at the Independence Visitor’s Center. Mr. Healy was appointed by President Barack Obama in July 2011 to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which oversees the worldwide Fulbright Program.

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Enrichment U.S. Fulbright

A City Back on Its Feet

April 27, 2016

After a long climb, the view from the top of Death Rock, looking down upon Williamson and the Tug River

It’s just before sunrise and I’m making my way up a steep, rocky slope. A short jog beyond the city’s main drag, the earth begins to rise. Flat streets become steep grades as we climb up, up, into the Appalachian Mountains. The weather is cool as the mountains exhale softly in the morning air. I fall in stride next to Tim Caudill, a Williamson native, trained archeologist, and seasoned ultra-marathoner who has since returned home to carry out research into how best to revitalize the local economy.

This morning, we’ve pulled ahead of the group of us who rose early to hike up to “Death Rock,” a peak overlooking Williamson offering a birds-eye view of the Tug Fork River separating Williamson, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. For Tim, the roughly five-mile route to the top is easy exercise. In the course of training for a 100-mile race, he logs dozens of miles per week in the surrounding mountains. As we run, Tim shows himself to be a trusted guide for all things big and small. He stops to point out the fossilized remains of plants etched into small rocks. And when we reach the peak, he is quick to gesture toward mined mountaintops and discuss the storied history of the area. Here the closer you look, the more treasures you see.

Williamson is a city graced with grand natural beauty. With over 700 miles of trails, the surrounding mountains are a trail runner’s dream. While many locals utilize the Hatfield-McCoy trail network for All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) recreation, runners like Tim are a less common sight. But times are changing.

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