emilyIRL

Guys, I can't handle this. I can. Not. Handle this. My grad program is low-residency, meaning that I'm only out here in Vermont twice a year for ten days. All my advisers who wrote recommendation letters for me have been asking about the status of my application, and now I might have to tell them I was passed over for it, and AUGH!!! I just need to get the nervous screams out. Thank you. That is all.

I went to my husband's back when he was a Fulbrighter I guess the orientations are based on region, because ours was just the for the South and Central Asia grantees. It was a weekend-long thing, if I remember correctly. They flew us out there and gave him a prepaid card to spend on food expenses. The info sessions ranged from culture shock to what to pack, that kind of thing.

Here's a random question: in the statistics of how many applications vs. how many awards, do you think they're counting incorrectly-done apps that they have to toss out, or just the good ones? (For example, if someone only gets two reccs in and submits anyway, does that count in the applications-received number?)

I haven't gotten my second confirmation, but it could be because my FPA is still getting stuff in on her end. She says her deadline is tomorrow, but I'm hoping she finishes up today...I just don't want to screw anything up here!! Adding my info to the spreadsheet in a hot minute.

Submitted! Now for the long wait!

Just received my affiliation letter from India, hooray! Today I'm planning on polishing everything and then will hopefully submit the app tonight...I just want to get it done and over with.

...aaand campus interview done. Phew. Time for that cup of coffee I didn't have time to drink.

I haven't had my campus interview yet, but my FPA is organizing a committee. I'm a little bummed, because I emailed her like, a year ago that I was doing to be applying, and again when the application season opened. Then I emailed her a month ago asking if there was anything I needed to coordinate with her, because she had been pretty quiet, and she was all like, "WAIT, YOU'RE APPLYING? YOU KNOW IT TAKES A YEAR TO GET THE APPLICATION READY, YOU CAN'T JUST APPLY ON A WHIM!" And now she keeps e-mailing me with what she thinks are roadblocks (like recommendation and affiliation letters) that I'm already on top of. Argh. It's just very discouraging, but I hope I've responded with enough positivity to convince her that we can get this thing done on time.

Hi all, Well, I'm scrambling to put together my application this month. (So much for not procrastinating. Ha.) A few questions have come up, and I'd like to hear what you guys have to say. First, work experience. I've worked at eye doctors' offices on and off for the past ten years. Do you think I should put that, to show that I'm able to be gainfully employed? Or leave it out because it's not relevent to the application at all? But then it looks like I've never held a job! Second, the foreign language evaluation. I'm applying for the CLEA in Bengali. I studied Bengali for a year when I lived in India before, and I can speak it some, but I've forgotten a lot. Do you think I should get myself formally evaluated? I just don't relish the idea of spending a morning with a proctor taking an over-the-phone interview in a language I really don't speak much of anymore. And I don't know if it will make a difference in whether I'm awarded the CLEA, because you don't have to have language skills in Bengali to begin with. Okay, I've reached the neurosis stage of this application. Any help/comforting words would be appreciated. P.S. Anyone, anyone else applying for India?

Oh maaaan, that stinks. True story: they didn't let one of my friends out of India for a few days because he had visited Bangladesh during his stay in India, and his last name is Hyder. Actually, it was really funny, but I felt bad for the guy because he was so homesick the whole time he was in India. I'll be applying for the creative/research Fulbright. (It's still the research Fulbright, but with slightly different application requirements.) Not sure how that's going to go, but I figure I might as well try. I'm getting my MFA in Children's Literature, and I'd like to do something along the lines of adapting the Indian epics for a US audience.

Ooh, Hina, you should try Calcutta. I know, I'm very biased. But it's a great city in the same region-ish that speaks the same language. There's a really great language school there, and it's just the best city in the world. Think about it!

Eek! Just found this forum after creepin' around the 2014-2015 Fulbright page. I'm happy to see I'm not the only crazy one who's been waiting for the application season to start. My husband got a Fulbright to India back in 2010, so we spent our first year of marriage in Calcutta. Now I'm dying to go back, and the time seems to be right. I'll be applying as a writer...we'll see how that goes.