Mozartgirl53

Hey Neurovivor, thanks for the congrats! I feel increasingly humbled that the people of Zambia are allowing me to be a part of preserving a beautiful culture.

I think when it comes down to brass tacks, we really just don't know why a particular person or project is chosen. Neurovivor has never been to Spain. I've been to Zambia twice, for a month each time. We both got grants. So what does this mean? NOTHING, in my humble opinion. Lol.

Hi spainbound15, I don't have hard data for this, but based on people I have talked with, it seems there's sort of a "golden mean" of perfect time to have spent in proposed host country. How long were you in Spain, and how long ago? The sense I get is that Fulbright wants to target college students who have not had a ton of over seas experience, because that is part of their mission. On the other hand, it can be helpful to have some experience. I have been to Zambia twice, for about one month each time, for example. I used that in my proposal to show connections I have already set up and to demonstrate I have a working knowledge of navigating the public transit system, what water you can drink where, etc.  My FPA warned me not to over-emphasize that, but she also said have connections there would actually help my application. So............ I don't feel that was a super helpful answer, but that has been my (limited) experience.

miri1776, may I ask where you read/heard that? I'm just really curious because my FPA made a big deal about it. She told me they really look for students without much, or any, experience in the country to which they are applying. I know I've read something on the Fulbright site as well. But maybe it's one of those things that's more informal in the office? Like in reality they don't look much at that? I'm interested because I want to be able to pass along advice to candidates in the future, but I don't want to tell them something incorrect.

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Hi Sine, thank you for that very nice compliment! I know I'm a bit of a Pollyanna, but I don't care. It feels good to believe that everyone is good and deserving of something in life. Yes, I get burned once in a while-- some homeless people I hired to clean my house came back during the night and robbed me a few weeks ago--- but so what? I gave them a chance. And I'm never going to change that about me. I'm always going to cheer everybody on because I believe in the human spirit, and I think that's really the essence of the Fulbright program, isn't it? Anyway, I'm rooting for all of you-- go team Moldova!  (And France)

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Time: 7:21 EDT
 
From: Jermaine Jones
 
Subject: Fulbright Application Status (P)
 
Letter:  Dear Ms. Brown,

Congratulations!   I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected for a 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Zambia.
 
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Hey miri1776, Sirskipsalot, and Nella,

I'm with you all! I'm madly watching Blacklist, my new favorite TV drama, but I've done some epic series seasons I missed along the way: Criminal Minds, NCIS, Modern Family...you know! For me, writing helps me keep it together. I get absorbed in what I'm doing and forget about Fulbright, at least for a while.

kdhexon: Moldova
alfred92: ETA Columbia
brain11: ETA Columbia
donthatedontkill: (A) ETA Columbia
Tifffany8: ETA Columbia
heimlich: Fogarty Malawi
Cynti: ETA Columbia
Sine: Moldova
coffee_craver: ETA Brazil
papertiger311: Research Columbia
yjc3: Research South Korea
 
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!  YOU DID IT!!  WOW!!!  I'M PICTURING BALLOONS BY THE THOUSANDS AND CONFETTI RAINING DOWN ON YOU!!  I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT!!  I AM SO EXCITED, I JUST GOT UP AND DID THE HAPPY DANCE! MY DOGS AND CAT THINK I'M CRAZY, HAHA!! KDHEXON, I KNOW YOU THE BEST OF THIS GROUP AND I AM JUST TICKLED PINK THAT YOU GOT MOLDOVA! GOOD NEWS FOR ONE OF US IS GOOD NEWS FOR ALL OF US!! I SERIOUSLY WISH, WHETHER MY PROJECT IS FUNDED OR NOT, THAT WE COULD ALL SOMEHOW COME TOGETHER FOR A BBQ OR SOMETHING! ANYONE WHO LIVES OR CAN TRAVEL TO SPOKANE, WA IS WELCOME TO STOP AT MY PLACE!!!   WHOO WHOO!!!  SO HAPPY TO SEE GOOD NEWS AFTER DAYS OF NO NOTIFICATIONS! THE DAM HAS BROKEN.... C'MON NOTIFICATIONS!!!!!

Hi everyone!
 
First off, no I haven't heard yet on Zambia. They are waiting on my official transcript. I got an email today from transcript national clearing house informing me it had been sent out. I payed for overnight express (once it got out) and therefore I'm really hoping Jermaine gets it tomorrow. I think it will be Thursday at the very latest. After my panic attack the other day (the only one I've ever had), I needed to step away for a day or so and calm myself down. Frankly, I'm embarrassed out how badly I freaked out over a missing transcript! I think it was that I (hopefully) accept a (NS) if better projects or applicants were to be the reason. What freaked me out was the idea that an oversight by the clearing house for transcripts could trip me up. However, I do believe now that will not be the case. I've had a couple of very personable emails from Jermaine, including when I emailed him today saying the transcript was in the mail, and it's clear to me now that it is just a procedural thing...no matter which way it goes, it will not be because someone messed up on mailing the transcript out. Jermaine thanked me again for taking care of it so quickly and said he and his colleagues will be an eye out for it. So I'm guessing (hoping?) they'll send my notification once they have their i's dotted and t's crossed.
 
After recovering from my emotional trauma (haha), I injured my elbow and haven't been able to type until tonight! I probably shouldn't be now, but I didn't want you guys to think I had dropped out of sight.
 
Here's to finding out tomorrow!!!  And you guys in this forum, I have decided, will be the FIRST to know! You have all been so incredibly supportive and you are the people who really, really get it, meaning we have all shared this thrilling, exasperating roller coaster.
 
GnosisExchange, jrk2115, rosecoyote, and every one of you beautiful colleagues who have become friends... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! You have no idea how good it feels to read your notes of encouragement! It is because of you that I have not gone completely insane throughout this process. I have really come to love our little group and actually will be a little sad once all the notifications are in and we go our separate ways, for some of us until Fulbright 2015 forum gets started, and for others of us, off to grad school or work or to far-flung places to carry out our research and teaching. I hope people will come back here during the next year and post updates; I know that I, for one, am very interested to hear about how we're all doing!
 
Thanks again for your tremendous support, and not just to me but to everyone in the forum! I think we're all better people from going through this experience together. 

Well, since you brought it up... I've been worried about Russia and Ukraine and the immediate area for those very reasons. I haven't wanted to express those doubts here because I'm generally a very positive, optimistic person who likes to be a cheerleader for others! I STILL BELIEVE that all you Russian and Ukrainian folks are going to get to go, but must admit I think of you every night at 5:30 PM when Bryon Williams comes on to give us the latest news. On the other hand, as far as I know, nobody in the IIE or Fulbright organizations, nor the State Department has even whispered that student/cultural exchanges are on the chopping block. These cultural exchanges are so good for everyone involved that I would have to think if things keep deteriorating Fulbright would be the last program to get the plug pulled. LOL just reading this back tells me I'm still pretty dang optimistic! KEEP UP THE FAITH!!! 

Hi hopefullywandering (love your handle!), sorry I haven't posted much the last couple of days... One week until the end of my semester and I'm slammed with GA work, a paper, and a poster presentation, but I wanted to pop in and say CONGRATULATIONS on your alternate status!! I really hope you get to go!

Hi sirskipsot, I very much doubt either Friday or Easter Monday is a routine holiday for the Feds because it is a religious holiday. My guess is, though, that a significant % of employees request time off for one or both (I would if it were me.)

CONGRATULATIONS arigold36 and laurelhardy58!!! I was hoping SOMEONE would get notified today! Hoooraaahhh!! You must be grinning ear to ear right about now!

You know what I love about you SmarteyMartey?  It's that you were selected but you're still here to cheer the rest of us on! I, for one, appreciate that immensely! Thank you!

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE WHO RECEIVED GOOD NEWS TODAY FROM TAIWAN, MALAYSIA AND BRAZIL!!!!!!!!!!  Congratulations UNCAnthro, Nothinger, and letshaveakeke!! If I have overlooked anyone in congratulating them, I apologize; I'm genuinely excited and thrilled for ALL of you!!! This forum has been so important and special to me. Thank you EVERYONE for that!  Let's all join together and send out some positive energy towards everyone hearing back this week!

Hi olioliwoo, I feel your pain! Please don't feel "flaky"; you are NOT! People, i.e. colleagues, professors, grad schools, relatives, and friends just have to understand and accept that this process is totally and completely out of our hands!!  There is nothing we can do about it! This is especially tough for the Alternates! If they get "frustrated" with your answer, just tell them you're more frustrated than they are! You're basically going to be in limbo either until you hear back from Fulbright, or don't; and that can be a long and grueling wait. I actually think it's quite rude for people in any of the above categories to express frustration when you're the one going through this extreme stress of waiting! Maybe you can gently suggest ways they can be supportive of you instead of making you feel worse! Sorry to be so forward, but that really gets my goat. You are an amazing woman and no matter what happens with your alternate status you will always be an amazing woman! I am pulling hard for you and sending all the positive energy I can muster your way. I have absolutely no doubt that you are an ideal Fulbright candidate no matter what happens. You are also young and have so much ahead of you, so it should be totally OK for you to have a few months (although I hope it's not that long!) of indecision. Feel free to quote me on that! Geez!

Hi tieloran, how very frustrated you must be right now! Doing this twice in a row... I can't imagine how you are holding up! I am sending sweet vibes of hope and gentleness to soothe your soul. I truly hope you go from alternate to accepted!

ATTENTION SUB SAHARAN AFRICA RECOMMENDEES!  I just got off the phone with Jermaine Jones, the Fulbright SSA region program manager. I'm afraid it's not entirely good news, but at least it's something. He told me they are still waiting on the State Department (surprise, surprise) and they are expecting to hear back by either this coming weekend or next week sometime. He couldn't be any more specific than that. I told him I was calling on behalf of my SSA cohorts on the Grad Cafe forum and he said he was really sorry he couldn't be more specific and he thanked us all for our continued patience. He was very nice and I could tell he genuinely wished he could be more specific. He said he can't give me a date because they just don't know exactly when they'll get the go-ahead from the State Department.
 
So, for those of us really hoping for April 15, I'm afraid that's not going to happen. My guess is that it might be at the end of next week, i.e. around the 25th.
 
Sorry I couldn't pass along better news!

Hi cgerry14, Yes, it is cool that my brother works at a national lab! Before Lawrence, he was at Pacific Bell up here (Washington) at Hanford. He is trying to find a way to store nuclear waste in a safer manner; you may have read about his project--he wants to turn the waste into ceramic bricks...easy to store and not nearly as much uranium going into the atmosphere. But unfortunately, there is something very UNcool about working at a National Lab right now-- remember the sequester? The federal government stopped funding the national labs. And they haven't started again very much. Also, any project that says "nuclear" in it is very unpopular with Congress right now, even though he isn't creating nuclear waste, he's trying to solve the waste issue. Luckily, Jonathan was able to get a couple of grants to carry him through thus far, but he's at the end of that now and looking for another job. He will probably end up in Germany, where funding is much more plentiful. So I'll get up on my soapbox  here and say that we're (Americans) always talking about how other countries are ahead of us in STEM learning and science in particular. Yet we're unwilling to provide the money necessary, both in secondary and higher education, to get kids interested in going into scientific pursuits, and then we cut off funding scientists! We will always be behind in science as long as we're not paying scientists! So if we're serious in wanting to be on top of the scientific community we need to put our money where our mouth is! Also, the scientific community is a global community; scientists are the perfect example of how countries can cooperate and scientists see the great value of collaboration. So if our government won't send any scientists to conferences around the world or fund any over seas work, we're kinda out of the loop. Europe is doing great things scientifically-- France is running experiments very similar to what my brother is doing and Germany is kind of a "hub" for scientific work. My brother did go to Japan for a few weeks last year to consult on the nuclear spill, but the Japanese government funded that. So we're in sort of reverse brain drain here where scientists are leaving the U.S. to pursue better opportunities in Europe and Asia. OK.... down from my soapbox!  :-)  Your Hep C project sounds both fascinating  and practical! I really hope you get to do it!  Curing or at least mitigating Hep C would be a wonderful boon to humankind.