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Fulbright Program: U.S. Applicant Podcast
Transcript For: Africa and the Middle East Webinar - Part 3.
July 10, 2009
Africa and the Middle East Webinar, Part 3. Tony Claudino hosts a Question and Answer Session.
Africa and Middle East Webinar, Part
III: Questions and Answers
Tony: …
change the screen over back to me if that’s ok.
Maggie: Yeah, have at it.
Tony: Good. Alright, so now what we’re
going to do is, we are going to answer all your questions. It’ll be on a first
come first served if you type them in. Maggie, how much time do you have left?
Maggie: I think I can do another like 10
minutes and then I’ve got to run.
Tony: OK, that’s fine. So questions
for Maggie, we’ll try to answer them all pretty quickly. Here’s the website, so
people… and I’ll use that as a backdrop. Alright, so, questions. Here’s the
first one Maggie.
Can you go over – this
is from Emily—it says, “Can you go over how you got the affiliation with the
NGO in women’s rights?”
Maggie: Yes, definitely. So, like I said, I
was interested in studying the Tuarags in Niger
but I was like, hmm, I don’t know anyone in Niger,
maybe I’ll try Mali
too. So I just started doing a lot of internet surfing, where I would type in Niger, women’s rights, Niger, education, just trying to
find any kind of entry point of organizations that already existed. I knew I
wasn’t, I mean, for Fulbright it wouldn’t make sense to be working with a
humanitarian organization and my interests weren’t in there so I didn’t look
for like Niger Oxfam or Save the Children or things like that. But I just did a
bunch of… I also looked, like I said, trying to figure out the universities in Niger.
I kind of was more drawn to Niger
as opposed to Mali, even
though it would have been an option just because I had studied Niger
partly for my senior thesis. But if I had known, sort of the only African
politics professor at my college, Pomona College, did not study Niger
personally so I did not have any connections in that way but I think that’s
always a good option, just sort of scour your university directors, look for
professors who specialize in some field, you know… if you’re looking to go to
Southern Africa, rack your brain, see what the options are.
But, getting to the
point, the way that I got that contact was just sort of a fluke because Boston University
happened to have a study abroad program in Niger. It’s not a very common place
to have a study abroad, there’s only one program there, but if you’re going to
a country like Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Ghana, all those kinds of countries-
you know, those countries definitely have multiple study abroad programs so
that can be another entry point, whether you’re going to look at making contact
with the School for International Training and explain who you are. I would
really recommend doing some research before you get to that point of reaching
out to organizations because I know from experience, I passed on a couple of
email addresses from this particular woman who was very helpful to me, I said,
“Oh you should contact Sue in Niger,” when students have come to me. But if you
don’t do your research beforehand then you might look kind of unprofessional,
like you don’t know what you’re talking about and people will be less likely to
help you. But if you say, “Look, I want to study the role of women in Tuareg
society, I’m looking for a women’s rights organization. If that’s not… also I’m
interested in being in touch with any Tuareg people you know. I speak French, I
can email with the person, I can Skype with them.” If you sort of do the hard
work for people then they might be willing to say, “oh yeah, I have this great
friend. You should really talk to them.”
So, above all, it’s about, I would say, making connections with people
on the ground. Sometimes it’s easier to reach out to Americans or study abroad
programs, and then they can, they already have the lay of the land and they can
say, you know, this person, you should talk to them. So, like Robinette said,
it’s definitely helps to start early. But there’s no shortage of resources on
sort of any topic you’d be interested in studying in any of these countries
where Fulbright has programs. I would just sort of, like Robinette said, look
into the country, look at the sort of options available.
I really liked being in Niger because, like I said, Niamey is a small capital city so it wasn’t
overwhelming. It’s not like Nairobi, even Dakar to me is a little
overwhelming so kind of think about what your personality is. Like if you
really love New York City, then Nairobi is a good place for you but if you are
from a small town and like small towns, like I do, then being in a more laid
back, Sahelian country like Niger. It suited my personality really well. I hope
that helps.
Tony: Perfect. Can I have one more
question?
Maggie: Sure, go for it!
Tony: I don’t see any questions for
you, but I’m sure there’ll be more coming. There is… actually this is a
question for Maggie and Robinette from Rama. She says:
I really enjoyed your
presentations, I’m a Fulbrighter to Israel ’09-’10 and my research is a
little similar to yours. I will be working with young Ethiopian-Israel women,
exploring the factors that have contributed to their success as 1.5 generation
immigrants. I have the following question for you. What helped you to narrow
down your research focus when things changed upon arriving to Niger?
Maggie: Ah, alright. Very good question. So,
what was interesting was that before I got to Niger,
the travel advisory was put on the country by the U.S. State Department which
said that, you know, there’s a Tuareg rebellion going on and so you should
think about not going on vacation to Niger, essentially that’s what it
said. And specifically, you can’t go to northern Niger, which was an area I’d
like fantasized about going to, it’s sort of like Timbuktu, this place I was
going to live, this interesting place. So, I mean, that could certainly happen
in a place like Israel
as well. So what I did was I knew going in that I was going to have to shift my
objectives and I had talked to Jermaine about this, I remember asking him,
“Jermaine, is it ok if I still go to Niger? I’m kind of worried.” And he said,
“No, it’s fine. You’ll be safe in this part of the country.” So in answer to
the question about what to do when you get on the ground, I just sort of had to
take a deep breath because when I got there it was like 90 degrees. It was a
new place. There was a lot of sand. I had to get used to my surroundings and
I’m kind of someone who likes to get everything in a row, figure out exactly
what I’m doing. But I think above all, I’m sure Robinette and Michael might
have a similar feeling, when you’re living in West Africa you sort of, you have
to take things day by day so I would ultimately recommend not getting frustrated,
sort of getting the lay of the land, trying to get in touch with your contacts,
whether or not it’s an institution, a university, going and introducing
yourself and people will be more than willing to help you so I wouldn’t be too
worried if you get there and you’re like, “Oh shoot, you know, this isn’t
exactly what I thought it was going to be like and just sort of remind yourself
that you have awhile and you can settle in and figure out who’s the best person
to take a language course from, how can I… I would just take your time setting
thing up. But Robinette, you should feel free to pitch in anytime.
Robinette: I’d actually have to echo a couple of
your points. The first of which is, your commission, if you have a strong
commission, your commission will be more than helpful in terms of setting you
up with someone. For me, my commission, I had an advisor and she offered me so
much help, and a wealth of information. And actually, where I lived, just as
Maggie said, there was no shortage of people who would be willing to help.
Don’t shortchange your friendship networks, and your project, it might actually
change based on the people around whom you associate yourself. Don’t be afraid
to venture out beyond your Fulbright group. Don’t be afraid to go and just ask
people, especially as you’re learning a language, don’t be afraid to talk to
your shop keeper, don’t be afraid to talk to your dress maker. These are the
people who might offer you the interviews that you need or the information that
you need, and of course it’s like a snowball effect. They will then put you in
contact with someone they know, with whom they know, with whom they know. And
so you know you’re going to find a way to make your project work and mold
itself to you but don’t be afraid to let it take it’s own course.
Tony: That’s perfect. We have a lot of
questions, and we want people to write in more questions as well, so we’ll try
to bullet through them. Maggie, I think you’re going to head off, right?
Maggie: Yes. Thank you everyone very much
for being there and feel free to contact me. I’m happy to answer email
questions. Is that ok Tony, or no?
Tony: Yeah, that’s fine. You can give
them your email. And I can do that in a survey as well. But why don’t you give
your email.
Maggie: OK, cool. It’s just my name maggie
dot fick at gmail dot com. M-a-g-g-i-e dot fick at gmail dot com. So, hit me up
with any questions and thanks everyone.
Tony: Thanks Maggie. OK, next question
for Jermaine. I’m going to put you off of mute. Jermaine, are you there?
Jermaine: I’m here.
Tony: Alright, so. First question. Do
the ETA appl—this is from Mary—do the ETA applications have the same language
proficiency tests as the research grant aps?
Jermaine: Generally speaking, no, actually. But
each country has its own different language requirements so I don’t want to
give you a generalized pat answer because one doesn’t exist. In other words,
I’d really recommend that you visit each relevant country summary for the
specifics in terms of each country’s language requirements for their ETA
applicants.
Tony: Great. One more for you
Jermaine. Next question’s from Kristen. It’s regarding ETAs to Egypt and Jordan. “Are multiple ETAs placed
in the same city or are they spread throughout the country, i.e. would two or
more ETAs be placed together in the same city or institution. As a woman I have
some concerns about living alone in a middle eastern country and thus was
wondering if you were paired with other ETAs.” Robinette, you could probably
chime in as well. Jermaine, you want to lead it?
Jermaine: I’ll give it a shot. The placements…actually,
I should take a step back and say this upcoming academic year, 2009-2010, is actually
going to be our first go around with the ETA programs in Egypt and Jordan, so the placements really haven’t
been determined yet at least for the Jordanian cohort. My sense is that, for
each, there would actually be more than one ETA, at least in… well I’d assume
that a lot would actually be placed in Cairo,
if not all. Whether or not they’ll be placed at the same institution, that I
really can’t say either. I wish I had more of a history or historical
background to provide you with a better answer on this but it doesn’t exist I’m
afraid. So..
Tony: At least for now, so check back
in a few months.
Jermaine: If she wants to email me that question
later in the summer there might be more of an answer, or a better answer for
her at that time but for now I’m…
Tony: Great. Kristen, send it off to
Jermaine. Robinette, do you want to answer the issue of “as a woman?”
Robinette: Yeah, ok, yeah because you know of
course Morocco is considered
also part of the Middle East, and you know one
thing that I would have to say is to be sure you’re smart about what you’re
doing. Be careful, be smart, you know, watch your surroundings. If you’re
traveling, and you don’t feel comfortable moving about by yourself make sure
you befriend someone with whom you feel comfort. You might even try to talk to
your commission about doing a home stay for the first couple of weeks in which
case you’ll build a network from there, in terms of a friendship network, a
safety network. Of course you can have other ETA… individuals with whom you’re
spending time. But I wouldn’t say… be very cognizant of dress codes, of space,
of what they mean. I would suggest that for the first few weeks you really
observe your surroundings, and that you do a little bit of background research
before you get there and really, you know, see if women move about at night,
see where women go. You do what they do so that you won’t feel like you’re kind
of out there by yourself. That’s all.
Tony: Perfect. What’s the next one?
Next question’s from Nicolas, it’s open to anybody. “Let’s say the region in
which you want to do your research expands beyond the country to which you
applied. To what extent does that affect your application, grant restrictions,
etc.?” Who would like to have a stab?
Michael: Maybe first Jermaine, just technically,
and then we can chime in about… how it translates.
Tony: OK. Jermaine?
Jermaine: Tough question to answer without
having a little bit more detail on what he’s talking about. Again, generally,
well not generally speaking, multi-country grants as I mentioned before, are no
longer an option for either of these world regions, the Middle East or North Africa. But let’s say for instance, that one wanted
to do research on, let’s say, the Yoruba
speaking populations, they’re primarily I believe in southwestern Nigeria, but
they still live to some degree in parts of Benin as well. If one applied for a
Fulbright to Nigeria, you
may be able to get a little bit of leeway in terms of having some weekend
length trips to Benin
approved by the U.S. Embassy in Lagos which would
be your primary source of in country support for a country like Nigeria. But, those sorts of cross
border jaunts would really have to be pretty minimal, quite frankly, and fairly
short duration because your grant is going to be written for one country and
that’s the country you’re supposed to spend the majority, if not all, of your
grant term.
Michael: I’d just like to sort of follow up
with that saying I think a lot of people, including when I was applying really
thought that they were going to work on projects that would span multiple
countries. And I guess it’s easy to think that you have… that’s it’s going to
be sort of easy… a lot easier than it actually is when you get there. And
actually, within each country, number one, a lot of the time, you’re just…
there is a lot to do just to get a small, what you might consider a basic
project under way in a completely different context. And, the other thing is,
the countries are very, very diverse and you might find within… just because…
if someone was talking about the United States, sure they could talk in
generalizations, but when they came here they would realize there’s an
incredible diversity of cultures, cuisines, you know, you name it. And it
really is the same in lot of these countries, including Senegal. You have Lebanese who make
up a very significant part of the population who aren’t even Senegalese.
There’s issues of racism, there’s issues of… lots of different, there’s 40
different languages spoken, so you might find within a country, a lot more
diversity than you would have imagined to.
Robinette: I would also add to that two things,
the first of which is, I’d have to echo what Michael just said and don’t short
change how long it’s going to take you to do your project. There’s a comfort
level that people need to have with you depending on the project that you’re
trying to accomplish and that might take quite some time so whatever community
in which you are going to live, you are a stranger coming into this place,
trying to do research about people who don’t know you. You know, be very clear
about that and the fact that you must build a trust, bond with the community with
which you want to do research or on which you want to do research.
Additionally, in your Fulbright grant you are allotted a certain amount of
travel time, so if you want to take a look around at another country, I think
that that might… if you can’t get it approved that might be another time in
which you want to do it, but I’d have to also echo what Jermaine said in that
you might want to spend as little time doing that as possible because the majority
of your research really should be done in the country to which you applied and
that’s going to take up quite a significant portion of your time if you want to
have a successful project.
Michael: And the people I did know who had
done these multi-site projects, I think they unfortunately ended up feeling
like they traveled a lot and didn’t get to know one culture, having known at
least 1 or 2. And I think it would be to your advantage, like Robinette and
Jermaine said to just try as much as you can to stick to one.
Tony: Alright, so, the next question
from Omar. I’m hitting both of his questions actually. His first question is,
and this is for Maggie but I think both Robinette and Michael, you guys can
answer this. First question is, “ Was the funding enough to support your stays
while in the country you went to?” And
then the second part of his question was, for all the presenters, “What were
some of the challenges you encountered while on your grant?” So, Michael?
Robinette?
Robinette: You can go first.
Michael: Alright, thanks. I guess… I think
that the uh… for me, in Senegal,
I would definitely say that the money allotted was pretty- I guess it depends
on the lifestyle you want to lead in the country, honestly. I’m the kind of
person, I tend to more be very kind of, I don’t know, just live… I tried to
live the way that most Senegalese people lived and that meant eating very
simple cuisine, eating things that were common in the area, cheap and living
the way people lived. I found it very reasonable and extremely generous
funding. There were other people who really wanted to live more like Americans
or Europeans, and that would cost a lot in Senegal because of importation,
really getting nice, you know… there are rich people, a lot of rich people in
Senegal and surprisingly, that kind of lifestyle costs a lot.
In terms of challenges,
I guess for me, challenges for me was, as I mentioned, my project really
changed once I got there and so trying to decide how to transform my project
into something I was interested in but that was also doable. I realized that…
you know, for example, I wanted to do something I could publish and so I wanted
data, quantitative data, and so for me surveys was a good way to go about it.
And then once I realized that, I had to go do research online. And actually
that’s one thing I would recommend, if there’s any way, to use your embassies,
cause they have a lot of databases that you can use once you’re in the host
country to do searches for literature and stuff like that. For me, for my
research, that actually made a difference.
Tony: Perfect. Robinette, do you want
to answer the funding part cause then I have another question.
Robinette: OK, sure. In terms of funding, I was
more than satisfied with my funding. I was able to travel in every single state
that I needed to travel, pay whatever rents I needed to pay, take care of any
kind of expenses I needed to take care of, and I think that the stipend
fluctuates based on the year but it’s always pretty substantial because don’t
forget you are going as a researcher so you have certain fees that you need to
pay for, access to documents, access to spaces, traveling-
Michael: translator
Robinette: Yeah, you might need a translator,
thank goodness I didn’t need a translator, but you might have to pay for those
spaces, pay for those expenses and so that is to facilitate your research. In
my opinion I was very well accommodated.
Tony: Perfect. Next question is from
Ramunta and she has questions for Robinette. “Did you encounter any negative
encounters as an African American in an Arabised African country? If so how did
you deal with it?”
Robinette: Well…
Tony: You can skip this answer… skip
it if you want.
Robinette: No, no. I’m not afraid to talk about
anything, it’s fine. You can ask me anything.
Tony: OK.
Robinette: In terms of being an African-American
female in Morocco, where I stayed, Rabat, it’s kind of like a multi-cultural
space and there were a lot of students studying abroad in that space and, you
know, so there were a lot of different people, Europeans, different colors and
I personally didn’t, in the capital
cities, the major cities, I didn’t really encounter any kind of problems,
primarily I believe because I spoke the language and then too there are people
who look like you in every space. They might not sound like you but they look
like you. And so, people didn’t know what I was because I could speak Darija. They
said, you know, is she from the Sahara? Where
is she from? Who is she? And it was a big question- is she Senegalese? This kind
of thing because French is my second language. But when I did go to more
secluded areas where I was the only one who did look like me, it presented a
little bit more of a challenge. I wasn’t able to go places by myself. I had to go
with the people with whom I was staying. I was very much gawked at but it
didn’t bother me. There was really never a big threat of violence towards me.
Like, you can see how I dealt with race- I have a blog and that’s definitely a part
of my blog but I was never one to say this is because I’m solely African-American,
because I’m solely female. There were more things that people reacted towards
than just being an African-American woman, if that makes any sense.
Tony: Absolutely. Thank you Robinette.
Next question… if anyone wants to ask a question, we can try to turn on your
mike, raise your hand and you can turn on your mike and see if it works. Last
time we tried this it was hit or miss. Jessica, I know you’re on the phone as
well, if you had a question, you’re more than happy to ask it. So next question
is to Jermaine, actually, and this is from Mary. She says, “I’ve established
connections with a non-profit organization in Ghana called the Cross Cultural
Collaborate. How will I know if this is an acceptable affiliation?” So can we
talk about acceptable affiliations and maybe ask Michael and Robinette to chime
in?
Jermaine: It sounds like it would be, actually.
Generally speaking, just given the nature of this program, being a student
Fulbright program, people tend to have affiliations with universities or
colleges in their host countries. But there are certainly countries where it’s
possible to establish an affiliation with other types of organizations like
locally based NGOs or research institutes, archives, museums, things along
those lines. My understanding with Ghana is that it actually is one of the
latter countries in the sense that it is one in which you are not limited to a
solely academic affiliation so I’ve never heard of this institution but assuming
that it is one that is based squarely in Ghana you’d be ok with it.
Tony: Great. Ok, the next question is
from Jalal. “Have there been any issues in the past with host families and if
so are there any procedures to ensure a Fulbright participant is accommodated
properly?” Michael? Robinette? You want to talk about housing?
Michael: Sure. It really varied in my program,
how people found their housing. Like I mentioned, you really find anything from
living with a host family in a very poor setting- it’s all, the thing about
Fulbright is it’s, uh, really, you get the stipend and you choose where you
live. So, like I said, everything from very modest to very nice Western, air
conditioning. You name it. So, in terms of host family, that is one thing I probably-
see I did that when I was doing S.I.T. study abroad in college and I ended up
spending a lot of time with the family, but I probably, if I could do it again,
I’d probably do another host stay. Because really, like Robinette mentioned,
you learn so much from the family in the area, especially if you’re not 100%
familiar with the cultural customs and especially the place of women, men. It’s
interesting, I think that people assume because I’d be called black-Latino or
black here in the United States
that there weren’t any real racial issues in Senegal, but actually people did
not think I was Senegalese. It was not a question at all. And so it was a
question, something I had to figure out how, what is my place in society, and
how to negotiate that, and actually the home stay is a great, great way to do
that.
Tony: Great. Go head, Robinette.
Sorry.
Robinette: No, no, it’s ok. I just have to say
that for me, the home stay was invaluable because in my family, I mean, I had 2
sisters who spoke English, but my mother and father and brother didn’t speak a
lick of it. And so basically, it really helped to get involved with the
language and also networking, that was my base network from which to branch
off. And so, if you have a problem with your home stay, there’s no problem with
going to your commission and talking it out and finding another place to stay.
This is very much as Michael said a proactive kind of grant and so I would
suggest that you be that way. You know, whatever else you try to put in order,
be ready for it to change up on you a little bit. Who knows how you’re going to
interact with other people. If it doesn’t work, you can always change.
Tony:
Perfect. [overlapping
talking]
Michael: Sorry, just to echo what Robinette
said, I definitely would say that Fulbright, not the ETA but just the Fulbright
U.S. Student grant is proactive and it assumes that you are an adult, kind of
managing your own situation. If you don’t really feel like you can… if you
can’t do that I would recommend maybe ETA or some of the other programs but I
think this is for people who are mature and feel like they can pursue their own
project independently. So that’s something that maybe Jermaine or someone else
can talk about.
Tony: OK, we’re going to go into a few
more questions. Emily had a question. “Can you use an international NGO as an
affiliation if they have a local office?”
Jermaine: Again, it really depends on the
country. I’d say that for sub-Saharan Africa, generally speaking, yes, but
there are always exceptions to that rule, case in point, Nigeria, because that
is a country in which one can only affiliate with a select list of Nigerian national
universities and research institutes, so I’d really encourage you all to go to
the country which you’re thinking about applying, the country summary
specifically I should say, and look at the affiliation section because it
really depends on the country you’re applying and the details in terms of
limitations as far as possible host institutional affiliations are concerned would
all be detailed there. Again, the affiliation section of the particular country
summary.
Tony: OK, Patrick has a follow-up
question here, he says, similar question, “Would an organization such as the
Conservation Society of Sierra Leone be an appropriate organization?” He’s a
PhD student at the University
of Vermont, interested in
doing dissertation research looking at community based natural resources
management efforts there.
Jermaine: It would be, but again just check the
affiliation section for Sierra
Leone on the website or the hard copy
brochure to verify.
Tony: OK. Delilah asks, “Why are there
specific academic degrees required for the Rwanda grants?”
Jermaine: OK. Countries such as Rwanda, there are a few in sub-Saharan Africa, that have fairly small what we call Public or
Cultural Affairs sections of the U.S. Embassies and it’s these offices, these
sections of the U.S. Embassies in these countries that have primary in- country
responsibility, oversight for the Fulbright programs there. In these cases they
have such small staff, such few personnel there that they really don’t have a
lot of time to provide much oversight or support to U.S. Fulbright students.
Meaning that they really only can accommodate students who are more mature,
older, are researchers who may not need that much oversight, or for lack of a
better term, handholding. So, that’s in a nutshell the reason why these are
countries that don’t allow people at the bachelors level to apply.
Tony: We’re into the last 5 minutes,
so I want to finish it off with a little question for Michael and Robinette. I
mean, at this stage, it’s May 11th, in terms of, put your perspective back on
to when you were applying to Fulbright. What are some things you’d give future
applicants that are listening right now? Michael?
Michael: Advice? Is that what you’re saying?
Tony: Yes, advice.
Michael:
Well, number one, really I can’t
say enough about the Fulbright Program. I should have said this during the
photo part, but it’s changed my life. I extended my grant, cause there’s an
extension- is that still available, Jermaine? You can extend for 2 months
after?
Jermaine: It really depends on the level of
funding available to-
Michael: Yeah, ok. I did as much as I could to
stay in the country cause I really enjoyed my experience so much and if that’s
available in your country than I would also look at that. Advice on applying, I
really would try to, I think, like Robinette and Maggie said, it’s important if
you can at this stage, to try to create a project that is sort of feasible,
reasonable, and really doesn’t put yourself in danger, like you know,
researching something controversial, too controversial. But, I mean, there’s a
lot out there and like I said, the Fulbright experience wasn’t just about the project,
specifically. I mean, you end up learning about food and culture and languages.
I definitely say, please, if you have any interest in visiting other countries,
living in other countries, I would really recommend that you send in an
application. But like I did say also, once you get there it can be a challenge
when you get a stipend and you have to decide where you’re going to live,
how’re you going to do your project, and it does take a certain amount of
maturity to be able to do that.
Robinette: Well, the advice that I would offer, I
think I offered it in my presentation but seeing as how it’s May, I would
really suggest for those of you who are still able to apply through a
university or college, really get a hold of your study abroad advisor slash
Fulbright advisor and express your interest and let them know – hey, this is
what I’m thinking about doing. Give them an idea even of your project and they
might be able to help you decide what country is best for the project you want
to do or which country is best for the personality that you want… you know,
that you have or the accommodations that you need, that kind of thing. So don’t
forget to exhaust every resource possible. Additionally, work on your draft.
Get as many drafts done as possible and don’t be shy and afraid to have
constructive criticism. And don’t let just everybody read your draft, get a
couple of readers and you know, really flesh it out, because this is the make
or break part of it. What you plan on doing. How is this going to affect, you
know, what you’re doing in the future, that kind of thing. So make sure.. all
you get I think is 2 pages so make sure this the best two pages that you can
possibly make it. You are, you know, this is a competition, not of faces but of
words. Additionally I would also say if you don’t have the language skills that
you think you need, start working on it as soon as possible. You know there are
all kinds of programs to which you can get involved so you know, start trying
to work on that so you can get some sort of comfort because they’re not saying
it just so that you can be ready, they’re saying it so you can be comfortable.
You don’t want to get there and not know anything and just be looking around
like, what? You know, you don’t want to do that. So, you know, prepare yourself
as much as possible and think like you already have the Fulbright. Continue to
think ahead to what you want to do. So that’s all.
Tony: Perfect, thank you Robinette. I
do want to show people on the screen, we do have a couple resources for them We
just created a blog, an applicant blog where we’re providing a lot of advice
for a lot of different people. And we have some alumni participating in the
blog, Crystal and Justin and a few others will be participating. Definitely
take a look at the blog, it’s usfulbrightstudent.blogspot.com. We’re also on
iTunes and youtube and I’ll get you that PowerPoint slide in a second, I have
it here somewhere. So definitely- again, I think what Michael, I’m going to
reiterate what Michael and Robinette said, you definitely want to do as much
research beforehand as possible. It’s May so it’s good timing. The other thing
I want to mention is to contact, especially Jermaine. Feel free to ask as many
questions to Jermaine as possible- sorry Jermaine!- but you don’t want to
submit the application and have all these questions left that you didn’t know
you should ask. So definitely have all your questions answered, talk to you
advisor, and Robinette has a good idea as well but also you can go back to your
alma mater. Some of the FPAs, the Fulbright Program Advisors, do work with
recent alumni or alumni in general, so contact your school on that. Jermaine,
is there anything you would like to add as well?
Jermaine: Not really, I would just really echo
or reinforce what Robinette said earlier about having as many eyes, or as many
qualified eyes as you can to look over your drafts of your proposal to really
make sure it’s as strong as it can possibly be. And also, to mention what she
said before about language training and making sure that you’re as strong in
the relevant languages as possible, ideally before you head out, but certainly
by the time you arrive in the country. So… language and affiliation. Two strong
considerations for now.
Tony: In terms of affiliation, should
I show them the C.I.S. thing or not? It’s only… we’ll save it for another time,
another webinar. We do want to thank everybody, I think we’re going to sign off
now. Michael and Robinette, thank you so much.
Michael: Oh thank you, it was great.
Tony: Excellent. And Jermaine, thank
you- go head.
Michael: And the same goes as what Maggie
said, if people want to send questions, feel free. Tony’s probably going to
send it out, but my email address is m v as in victor s 6 at duke dot edu, mvs6
at duke dot edu.
Robinette: In like manner, feel free to contact me,
that’s also fine. My email address is r as in robinette dowtin d-o-w-t-i-n at
gmail dot com.
Tony: And while we’re giving email
addresses out, I will show you where mine is. We’d love to get feedback from
you, so if you want to… we’ll ask you to do a survey but if you do, just shoot
me an email with some feedback about the webinar. We’re going to add a few more
webinars for English Teaching Assistants, so we’re changing some things around.
I want to thank
Jermaine, Michael and Robinette- and Maggie even though she’s not here- for
joining us. So, thank you all. This is a great webinar.
Michael: Thanks a lot, Tony.
Robinette:
Thanks.
Tony: No problem. Bye bye.
Robinette: Bye.
Jermaine: Bye.
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