Tag Archives: English

Fulbright Part 2: Working on the Application

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There’s a reason this post is not titled “How to Write the Perfect Fulbright Application.” I cannot tell you the secrets of THE perfect Fulbright app, because a successful application, I suspect, is less about being the Best. Applicant. Ever and more about making a convincing argument that you and your country of choice would make a productive partnership. Here are some ideas for how to craft your own best application.

• Spend time picking the right country for you. You can read about my country-choosing process here, or Adelina Solis ’11 perspective in this post.

We all came for different reasons… but no one came because they were already fluent in Bulgarian. Half our ETA cohort and our language teacher, Diana, in Beginning Bulgarian Language. Fulbright International Summer Institute, 2012.

• Don’t be afraid to take questions to the Fulbright Program Adviser or other staff on-campus. They are busy people, so respect their time and make sure your question hasn’t already been answered on the Fulbright or Scripps websites.

• The Off-Campus Study office keeps binders full of successful Fulbright applications. Do spend time reading them. I went back a couple of times. I found it helpful to take notes and write down ideas I had as I was reading. Take notice of what people list under publications, awards, abstract, and future career goals. No one will tell you how exactly to write these sections, but you may find ideas for what to include and how.

• If you’ve been abroad before, or have previous teaching experience, think about the moments that have stuck with you. Because Fulbright’s mission is to foster mutual understanding, moments that focus on cultural or interpersonal exchange may provide good anecdotal fodder for personal statements.

• If you have a side project, craft it to be mutually beneficial for your country and yourself. If I stayed inside writing science fiction all day, I wouldn’t be interacting much with the culture. With a travel writing focus, I practice my writing, interact with the country, and hopefully help others interact with Bulgaria as well. Other ETAs here plan to volunteer at orphanages, teach music to Roma kids, and practice cartography in their placement cities; use something you’re passionate about.

Cultural exchange can be as simple as teaching Bulgarians the “Wobble.” Fulbright International Summer Institute, 2012.

• Finish at least one draft of your personal statements and grant purpose in time to have the Writing Center take a look. Taking criticism can be hard, for these personal essays even more so than with academic essays (I cried, and I doubt I was the first to do so). The Writing Center staff is there to offer support and constructive feedback. Their ideas can lead to fruitful revision, but it means being vulnerable and open to suggestion.

• Be honest in your application essays. I mention it, because it’s important that you know your essays may be used not only to decide whether or not to award you the Fulbright, but may also determine (in the case of ETAs) where in the country you’ll be placed. It might be a matter of where your side-project (if you have one) will best be completed, or where your hobbies might be accomplished. My own essays mentioned Bulgaria’s natural beauty and my semester learning Balkan Dance. My placement is in Bulgaria’s most beautiful mountain range, and my predecessor took Bulgarian Dance classes at the community center. Coincidence? Nope.

• Make sure you can articulate to yourself WHY you want to do this, WHAT you’ll get out of it, HOW you’ll approach various aspects of the grant (language learning, culture shock, teaching), and ANY reservations you have. Figure out how to address these questions before talking to faculty recommenders, and certainly before your interview. If you’re confident in yourself, they will be confident in you too.

• If you need a neurotic online community, check out the Fulbright thread on the Grad Café forums. I appreciated knowing that the anxiety was not mine alone.

These are my tips for navigating the Fulbright application process. I’ll admit they are biased towards the ETA application, where I have experience. What suggestions would you add to this list?

Fulbright Part 1: How I Chose Bulgaria

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It’s hard to believe that it was exactly one year ago that I was starting my last year at Scripps and frantically preparing my Fulbright application. It’s even harder to believe that the “Dancing of the Balkans” class I took junior year to fulfill my fine arts requirement is about to become a practical life skill here in Bulgaria. Some of you may be considering a Fulbright application yourself. Here’s how I chose this little-known Balkan country for my English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) application.

Credit: Google Maps

But first I am obligated to tell you that my ideas and opinions are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any affiliated agencies.

It actually took me two years to settle on a particular country, because I’m a neurotic planner (an INFJ, heavy on the J, in Myers-Briggs terms). There are over 60 countries with ETA programs. I started with an open-mind, and narrowed down my list from there. I started by crossing out those countries for which I was ineligible, or much less preferred (e.g. those countries requiring language proficiency, prior teaching experience, or strongly preferring masters students). I took 3 years of French in high school, 2 years of Italian in college, but I didn’t actually speak either language, so I nixed countries where my level of language ability would be a detriment to my application.

Next, I followed the advice of then Associate Dean of Faculty Thierry Boucquey and focused on countries that had ~30% acceptance rate or better. Statistics regarding the number of grants available and the number of applicants from the previous year are available on the Fulbright website (here). Applying to Bulgaria, a country that has historically drawn fewer ETA applicants than its fellow EU nations, allowed my application to stand out. I also noticed during my research phase that the size of the Bulgaria program was growing; Bulgaria only offered 2 ETA placements in 2008, and offers 25 for the upcoming year. You can see how many ETAs a country has hosted over the years by browsing the Fulbright grantee directory.

By this time, my list was a manageable size and spanned Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Southeast Asia. Then I began thinking about my own preferences. A classroom full of 7-year-olds is my worst nightmare, so I narrowed it down to programs teaching high school and above. I don’t function well in hot weather, so I researched the climates of my remaining countries and crossed out the hottest and most humid of the lot. From what I had left, the Balkans interested me the most, but I knew I had no “demonstrated interest” in the region.

At this point, two years ago, I searched the word “Balkan” in the 5-C class schedule and came up with two possibilities. “Dancing in the Balkans” with Pomona Professor Anthony Shay later inspired my European Studies minor. I took a class in Comparative European Politics. I read the blogs of previous ETA grantees. I read articles about Balkan countries on travel sites, like the Matador Network. I researched the unique Fulbright summer institute opportunity for ETAs to Bulgaria. Everything I read appealed to me more and more.

Pravets, Bulgaria, the site of the 2012 Fulbright International Summer Institute and ETA training.

Now, Fulbright in hand, I’m heading to a town in the mountains where folk dance is still a popular form of entertainment. I’m learning a language that will, most likely, be of little utility in my future endeavors, but hey—I never thought I’d dance the horo again either.

Did you have a different strategy or alternative criteria for choosing a Fulbright destination? Share your process in the comments below!

“Oh, you’re an English major?”

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There are two common responses when I say I’m an English major: “Do you want to be a teacher?” or “Ah, so you want to work at Starbucks.”

While I can respond definitively that no, I don’t want to work as a professional barista forever, teaching is a less black and white career choice for me. I’d love to teach, but I feel like I’ll need quite a few more years learning before I can take on that responsibility.

To that, there’s only one response: “So, what do you want to do?”

I’ve never understood why “What don’t I want to do?” isn’t an acceptable answer.

I want to be a writer. That much is clear. In terms of my day job, I’ve considered journalism, publishing, editing, really anything that will allow me to get my opinions out there in the medium I love – the written word.

A little less than a year ago, I was deciding between starting my new life at Scripps or at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. One of the (many) reasons I ultimately chose Scripps is that the field of journalism is changing rapidly. With new technology constantly shaking up the industries I’m interested in, how could I possibly be certain a position I want would still exist by the time I graduate?

For the most part, I’ve accepted that I can’t be sure about my future until the future of the fields I’m looking at starts to settle down a bit. And then I stumble across an article like “Not All College Majors are Created Equal” from the Washington Post. (An article that, by the way, I read after Facebook informed me a friend had read– further testimony to the adjustments newspapers are making to stay relevant.)

“I have this game I play when I meet college students,” columnist Michelle Singletary declares. Her game is, based on a student’s major, guessing if they will get a job upon graduating. “An English major with no internships or any plan of what she might do with the major to earn a living? No job.”

I would like to point out that any major “with no internships or any plan” will likely fail to get a job, but the fact remains that English majors are most doubted. And such public declarations of doubt, especially when made by someone working in a field I’m considering, don’t do much for my confidence in my dreams. Or, should I say, my confidence that I should give myself time to choose my dreams.

Nonetheless, for now I’m sticking to the appetizers in the metaphorical meal of my career. I did an internship at my local newspaper last summer; maybe a publishing house will be next. This way, when it comes time to order my main course, I’ll know what’s on the menu, and I’ll be ready to feast.