zhaskin

Thanks! One door closes, so another must open... My joy is found in the Lord, not Fulbright... praise Jesus for that!

ETA Central America/Caribbean Alternates: check for a follow-up email from Ashley ASAP!!!

Felicitaciones!!!

Honestly quite shocked. I told Panama to hurry up and respond, and got the email less than five minutes later. Had I known that, I would have done that months ago! lol. At least the real waiting is over... I won't be too stressed about alternate, as I'll make other plans. PS: The picture is from a Beauty and the Geek party. I didn't have to dress up

Alternate...

Ok, Latin America... time to straighten up! No more of this mañana crap...hoy! Give us some good news today por favor!!!

It's time already! I'm making friendly bets with my roommates on whether I'll hear back this week or not. If we hear back, I'll be thrilled (hopefully), but if we don't, at least I'll get a margarita as compensation after my last final next Tuesday... win-win situation!

I bet some people decided it was 5:00 somewhere and took off for the night... maybe there will be some gasps and excited responses tonight and tomorrow on the board as a result!

Ok, for the most part, we have Latin America and African candidates left (with a few scattered- we feel you Switzerland, etc!) This combines most of the countries by culture or about the song.... but this next round of selections... this time for Africa candidates!

So sorry...I was really pulling for you! Hopefully you'll get moved up!

They are setting themselves up for months of pain and anguish...part of me wants to tell them to not think about using the blog until September at the earliest! Heck, I'd personally stay away from it until the recommendation process at least, but that's just me...

Congrats! Maybe Turkey will be the first of many with good news today!

All good. Better to complain to a bunch of random people online who feel your pain and are going through it as well than to your friends! They might think you're crazy or something, but we keep each other sane

The board used to fill me with anxiety (especially in late February through March), but it really doesn't anymore since we've all been waiting forever. I wouldn't say I'm angry or depressed, but I'm definitely irritated with how the process has played out. It's been a long road to say the least. I feel like I could give Fulbright more leniency if I was applying to a large country with a lot of applicants. Central America/Caribbean has a weird accounting set-up, which makes it take longer, but Panama had seven total applicants for two ETA positions. Why it should take six to seven months for two positions is beyond me, especially since finalists have been waiting longer than we did for the first recommendation. They probably only have 3 or 4 candidates still in for Panama. Draw names out of a hat already! Let's get this done! Alas, life goes on..(cuts another piece of cake and turns the TV back on, slowly slipping into an afternoon nap...).

True, but at least we'd have a better idea of what's going on! I'm tired of my life being in limbo... time to get other applications going!

I just lol'ed when I read the last sentence there... I think we're all considering that for our region directors!

Time to start next year's applications...

I was reading on the information for recommended candidates page a few minutes ago, and I noticed that ETA's to Central America/Caribbean don't have to attend an orientation in DC. Is it just me, or did it earlier say that we would have to attend one?! Perhaps I'm losing my marbles after all this time, but I could have sworn that it said we had to attend one earlier in the process....

I may send a friendly e-mail to my region director to inquire about potential orientation dates for Central America/Caribbean ETA's. I legitimately need to know for my summer job, as it will involve significant air travel...My boss needs to know now what week I can't work so he doesn't spend hundreds on plane tickets). Sounds like a good enough reason, right?

http://us.fulbrightonline.org/information-for-recommended-candidates "Will it take until June to be notified of your status? Some countries will make their decisions as early as February, others take longer. It is anticipated that all principal candidates will receive notification no later than May 15th."

Good news guys: we can start our apps for next year tomorrow! Who knows, maybe we'll hear back about next year first

Another Red Raider! Wreck 'em! I don't know the information about that, but I'm definitely pulling for you to get moved to accepted!

I REALLY wanted to comment on that article along the lines of "hurry the freak up with everybody else's applications so we know what to do with our lives," but I figured that wouldn't go over too well

I feel like today will be a good day for a lot of people... bring it on Fulbright!

My prediction is May 15, the date they are supposed to tell us by (though part of me wouldn't be surprised to see it later than that and they blame the Sequester for the delayed response... I graduate on May 18 and would REALLY like to know before then!) I plan to teach English for a year or two regardless of the decision from Fulbright. As a Spanish and International Business double-major who wants to do something with educational development, I believe spending some time in Latin America teaching English will increase my marketability due to enhanced language and cross-cultural communication skills developed in that time period. I'm 95% sure that I'm going to submit my application for Language Corps within the next few days to teach English in Costa Rica or Peru starting in early August. Besides, an ETA in Panama wouldn't start until January or later anyway, so I can at least get TEFL certified and teach for a few months before then to have some experience. The plan is to go to Peru and work in a language learning institute for 5-6 months if I get the Fulbright; that will give me a firm foundation and the South American experience before going back to Central America Panama in January 2014. If I don't get the Fulbright, I'd rather be in Costa Rica and seek a more long-term teaching position, perhaps in a high school or something for business professionals. I'd prefer to spend the majority of my 1-2 years in Central America, but I still hope to get some South American experiences in if possible! From there, possibly an MBA, but it's too soon to tell these days. What is everybody else considering? Anybody else considering TEFL certification and working abroad?