msafiri

I got an email about it yesterday. I mailed my forms in around 4/18 or 4/19.

LOL. Thanks for calling and asking. So, I guess this means that if we don't hear by this Friday then we're SOL on getting the grant? That totally has me waiting on pins and needles, even though I thought all of my fellowship waiting was over for the year. Gah! I may try to give them a call tomorrow to get an update. Hmmm, that's an interesting thought. I bet they just wait to make the official announcement. A friend of mine got an EPA STAR fellowship and he found out about it several weeks before the public announcement and was not allowed to say anything to anyone about it in the interim.

Anyone else going to the Western Hemisphere PDO for full grant recipients? I'm hoping to maybe find a GradCafe-r to room with... Also, anyone know when we hear about how much we'll get paid on a full grant or when we get information on how to get our visa?

I don't really think you understand my point, Gaijin Punch, so let me try to be even more explicit than I was above. This is obviously a very personal issue for me. I am incredibly outspoken in social situations and can fill in for someone else in their class just fine. But, when it's my class or my conference presentation or my piano recital, I freeze up. So, I am speaking as someone that, at least as far as what's presented, is in a situation very similar to what the OP described. So much so that hardly any of my close friends realize that I have anxiety issues when it comes to conference presentations and running my own class. My broader point is this: you and I are not in a position to decide whether or not the OP needs anti-anxiety medication. That is a decision that should be made by the OP and a healthcare professional. I just wanted to put it out there as an option because it's something that should be considered, just like practicing more, listening to calming music, doing yoga, staring at a point on the back wall, etc. should be considered. I'm not sure why you're anti-medicine, Gaijin Punch, but you shouldn't bring your prejudices to a conversation like this since you could potentially be denying the OP the help that's s/he needs. Derfasciti, I do think that you should consider ALL of your options: practicing, calming strategies, and medication. It may be that a combination of these works best for you. I hope you're able to find a solution that works for you. I know from experience how difficult that can be to do. I think you've made a false analogy here. I want to be a professor because I like sharing what I know with students, seeing the lightbulb go off in their heads, and just generally teaching them to think critically about the world around them. I'm pretty good at doing that in a seminar setting. But, when it's a room with 200 people, I have a harder time. What you're saying is that means I shouldn't become a professor. I'm glad my program isn't filled with people like you that just think the rest of us don't belong and should find another career.

I just got an email about this today for Western Hemisphere. The costs associated with your transportation from your current U.S. residence to Washington, DC, as well as your hotel accommodations for the duration of the orientation will be covered by the U.S. Department of State. Upon arrival at the hotel, you will also receive a travel allowance of $100 and a stipend to pay for any meals that are not offered during the orientation. All travel (flight and train) arrangements to the PDO must be made through the orientation travel agent. Instructions for making those reservations are available on the orientation website, www.fulbright.state.gov/orientation. That email has put a monkey wrench in my summer plans since I was planning to do a FLAS program abroad before taking up the Fulbright. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do since the language course won't be offered next summer. I definitely can't afford to fly myself to DC and back and the email I sent late last week to the PDO has not been answered. I think I'll be calling them in the morning.

I wish you wouldn't call my advice lame. As someone that suffers from severe anxiety when it comes to public speaking and finds that practicing, even 3-5 times, does NOT help at all, medication has been a godsend. The medication I take is one that you take 30-60 minutes before a situation that might make you anixious and that lowers your blood pressure to help keep you calm. It has enabled me to give conference papers and teach courses without worrying about sweating through my shirt, panicking and running out of the room (which is something I did years ago, and which led to the discovery that I suffer from severe anxiety), or other kinds of freak outs. While practicing is a great idea, it does NOT work for everyone. Plus, since it was the only thing suggested on this thread, I figured it might be worthwhile to suggest something else for those who find that practice is either impractical or doesn't help much. I realize that a lot of advice in this thread is geared towards conference presentations. But, at some point, it is likely that many of us will be in the classroom. It is difficult to find the time and audience to practice every lecture beforehand, moreso if you teach three times a week for 50 minutes. I'm not sure anyone really has time to prepare the lecture and then spend 3-4 additional hours practicing it before giving it. While it is possible that you may get more comfortable in front of the class over time, it's also possible that on the one day you don't get a chance to practice, you'll have a panic or anxiety attack, which can be crippling. Please don't universally denigate medication or suggest that everyone's problems can be solved without it. Anxiety is a medical condition that can be treated and, if you suffer from it and have tried other solutions to no avail, you can and should talk to a medical professional about the possibility of medication and/or therapy and/or a combination of the two. I didn't denigrate your advice, Gaijin Punch, so I do not understand why you feel the need to denigrate mine. There's nothing wrong with practicing but it is not a panacea for everyone, and shouldn't be presented as such.

Hmmm... I'm not sure about this. I do know that the guidelines for pap smears have changed to every other year, rather than every year, as a general standard. I go to the Women's Health Clinic on campus, so the results of my last pap smear were probably already in the system when the doctor was looking at the stuff for the Fulbright form. I definitely didn't have a GYN exam just for this though. Anyone know how long it takes to hear if your medical clearance was accepted/approved/whatever the appropriate language is?

You might want to look into getting anti-anxiety meds. They make some that can be taken on an as-needed basis, so you could just take it 30 min before you have to give a conference paper to help keep yourself calm.

So, I'm sort of thinking about applying for one of these because it seems like a great way to get to go study and live in Japan for a year, even though I don't know any Japanese. It seems like I would have to do a full degree, either MA or PhD, which could be complicated by the fact that I'm currently enrolled in a PhD program. Has anyone applied for one in the past or knows more about the program and applying? I'd really appreciate any advice and comments I can get. For those of you that haven't heard of it, see here for more information.

Almost another week has gone by... Anyone heard anything? Also, anyone want to PM me with a phone number that can be called? If so, I'll call tomorrow and check on the status of the applications.

Mine came out to $33 for the tests and $25 for the visit, at least that I've been billed so far. I imagine it'll be close to $100 total once all is said and done. Now I'm just hoping the package of medical forms doesn't get lost in the mail or anything and sort of wishing I'd spent the extra money to mail it with tracking.

Hmmm... I hope they'll announce sooner, rather than later, especially if other NOAA fellowships have already announced their winners. I'd hate to have to cancel a planned trip to see my family and lose the money I spend on plane tickets. Oh well. I guess I'll just keep waiting and checking my email. Wait, does anyone know how awardees are contacted?

Mine came via first class mail. My experience with it is that cross-country mail usually takes 3-4 days, not 7. Pretty sure my envelope came from IIE, but this was for Central America.

In a nutshell, yes. I'm at a state university and the state is continuously chopping the budget for higher education. I warned visiting prospective grad students of this. Right now, our department is doing quite well but, after spending a year doing dissertation fieldwork, I plan to find a way to be self-funded so I'm not dependent on the whims of the state legislature to be able to finish my degree.

Thanks for the update. I can't believe they'd be telling people with barely three weeks notice to plan to attend the orientation.

Here's hoping! Are you going to reply to their email to ask when we'll hear?!?

So true. And I was all hopeful last year because I didn't get rejected immediately. Apparently not hearing anything is equally awful. At least now I know that if I don't hear anything in the next 2-3 weeks, it means I have failed to make it yet again. I know that's what their website says but, until this past round, none of their past winners had a social science project. My research is in the "resource management of ocean and coastal areas" part of that description. I think I'm also at a disadvantage because my dissertation field site is not in the US. I'm wishing right now that I had pitched my backup dissertation plan in the Nancy Foster but, I didn't want to tell my advisor about it and didn't want letters that talked about one country and a research proposal that talked about another, if that makes sense. Oh well. There's always next year! But, it would be so nice not to have to worry about money for the rest of my PhD, and have enough money to live without roommates and without being completely broke.

It would be so awesome if you did. But I can't believe how early/soon that orientation is. It would seem like notifications would have to be going out ASAP so people can make travel arrangements, you know? And, it seems like a way earlier timeline than last year. BTW, sorry I made the duplicate post and thanks to whichever mod combined the two. I guess I got overly anxious, especially with all the NSF GRFP and Fulbright news that's come out lately. If only we could hear from NOAA! I'm guessing that the budget situation and the impending shutdown might further delay notification? CrTo, if you do call, do it tomorrow or Friday! Otherwise, with a government shutdown, we may have to wait even longer just to know how much longer we'll have to wait. What are other people's projects? Mine's kinda social science-y, which is probably why they aren't interested in it. But my advisor tells me to re-apply each year so I keep doing it, even though it kinda feels like a futile effort. EDIT: Alright, I'm procrastinating. I looked up the funding announcements from the past two years. The one for 2009 doesn't say when orientation was. The one for 2010 (http://www.grants.gov/search/downloadAttachment.do?afn=attclosed604615709-f51257.pdf&amt=application/pdf) says "Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recipients will travel to Silver Spring, MD, during the week of May 31, 2010, for a NOAA Orientation and to meet with National Marine Sanctuaries Program staff." So, why the hell did we not get rejected until three weeks after that?!?

mj109, which country? What was your project about?

Has anyone else applied for this scholarship this year or in year's past? Any idea when notifications will go out? I got my rejection last year on June 22. Last year, there were "over 150 outstanding applicants, of which only 7 could be recommended for funding." Any info on this year's competition would be greatly appreciated!

As I said before, my letter was postmarked 4/1, which was Friday, for a Central America full grant. And, it traveled all the way to the desert SW by yesterday (Tuesday). I'd be surprised if other letters sent then haven't arrived yet. Unrelated: Anyone have any updates on full grants for Mexico? I have a friend waiting on pins-and-needles, even more so now since two of us heard yesterday.

I got a large manila envelope in the mail today! Full grant for Honduras!!! Also, my good friend got her award letter for a full grant to Colombia in the mail today. No idea if this means more Central/South America notifications are coming. FWIW, the letters were postmarked on 4/1 and we're in the Southwestern USA.