CrystalDee

I did email our campus rep for Fulbright. I will post again, if and when I receive some info. Hopefully I will have some good news for you guys. I am really sorry to cause problems. I didn't mean to at all.

I agree. Sorry. This was completely my fault. I won't go there again.

Btw, I meant to tell you this is amazing! I am humbled to even be entertaining the idea of being in a group with such outstanding folks. You all are remarkable! It gives an old dog like me hope.

I didn't realize there were 46 awards for the UK. Don't give up hope. I really think this budgeting mess and insecurity here is slowing the process.

Friends, this is the guy who beat my guy in the election. I'm sorry. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/12/jim-bridenstine-obamacare_n_2863382.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

I am applying to the graduate program at the university in Estonia. If I don't get the Fulbright, I feel passionate enough about my research to try to fund it myself. Also, I have a freind who has connections at the Brookings Institute; maybe they will be interested in the research also.

I have not contacted my campus advisor to see if anyone has heard any news. I will try that.

In other news, this thread is almost 100 pages long! Aha! Now this we can make happen today.

I wish I had that kind of data! I am not even joking. I would love to have a general idea of when. Here is what slays me: If we are accepted we are supposed to hear from our host country, in some cases. If we don't make it, then we will hear from IIE here in the states. So, does that extend our worry time until the end of the business day here?

Don't fret, my friends. Since there are only three spots in Estonia, there is not a committee. The State Department folks pretty much decide. I was told I wouldn't hear anything until their budget was finalized. Which means pretty much the end of the month.

Thank you! I refuse to stop believing in helping people. That is why I want to go to Estonia to study the way they vote. If we can expand voter access in this state, maybe we can make some changes. I hope so anyway.

I received no news overnight, so the waiting continues. I emailed my contact there and he hasn't heard anything either. But, he is in China at the moment. Good luck today! I am sending good thoughts out to every one.

That was my first time eating there. It was good! I had the seafood lasagna, very rich and enough for two people. I sure miss seafood living in a land-locked state. Lol!! I am crossing my fingers for your victory celebration!!

Geaux Tigers! I was in Baton Rouge last weekend and took in a baseball game and had dinner at Chimes.

I had not heard this. The sad part is the guy that beat my guy came out and said we really don't need pre-school education because it wears off by age 10. So, I immediately asked him when he was pulling his kid out of preschool.

Thank you! We are trying to hold on here. But it is like pushing rocks uphill.

Indeed! For me, making the first cut is a big deal. I was one of those who had my family first; then finished college and am looking at a career. So, I have one son in college, one in high school and I am looking at finally beginning a career at the ripe old age of 40. I am very grateful to have made it this far.

I included my campaign work on the campaign. We were on the front lines getting people registered to vote and then following up with them on election day. So, my work on the campaign, I felt, showed my knowledge of the realities of voter participation. Oklahoma is one of those states with the voter ID laws, so we were checking to make sure the polls were applying the law correctly and not turning people away; especially in key precincts. But, I didn't put what party I was with; or who my candidate was. Losing the election was tough. But, I am a Democrat in an all red state. The district was hand drawn by the incumbent who got beat by the tea-party. He is wishing he hadn't drawn it that way...now.

Thanks! Not to get too political, but it's not easy being a Democrat in Oklahoma. So, really, it all begins at the county party level. The one democrat in my area is a state rep and he is not eligible for reelction in two years because of term limits, and we would certainly hate to lose the seat.

My research is about online voting and voter motivation. There will be two elections in Estonia during the duration of the grant (Sep-June). So the timing is ideal. Estonia has been using online voting since 2007 and it has been growing in popularity. I worked on a congressional campaign here in OK. So, voter participation is a topic near to my heart. I was asked to run for chair of my county party. It sounds kind of lame, but that is where politics begins here. I also got asked to work on a local campaign here doing volunteer coordination. So, I have opportunities, but it's really hard to commit, you know.

I want to have patience, but yeah, that is gone. I have no clue as to when they might decide, but I am torn as to whether or not that is a good or a bad thing.

No offense taken! I am really getting some good ideas from this board. There is comfort in numbers. My friends and family here have never tried for a scholarship like this, so they don't really understand what the anxiety and stress is like. I just appreciate reading what everyone is saying. Thanks for letting me jump in here.

I have been asked to run for elected office, and I just can't do that at this point. It would be really awful for me to accept an elected or appointed position and then have to then resign. But, yes, Caffeinated, I agree with you on Spring cleaning and at least making some plans for alternative life.

Hang in there! We can't give up hope yet. It's funny, there was actually a kid (I am a non-traditional student, so to me he is a kid) from my university who applied for Estonia also. I was shocked! Tiny country, mid-Western University, two applicants, craziness!

I hear you! The waiting is awful. I have opportunities that keep coming up and I have to keep telling them I can't make a decision at the moment. My sources in country have also been silent. So, my stream of intel has ended. I do find it comforting that others are struggling too. Just when I think I have pushed it out of my mind, someone will ask me about it.