Fulbright 2014-2015

[FB2014Aussie]

I'm getting concerned about Australia. I emailed 3 different committee members and none have replied (it's been like a week). I hope nothing happened to their funding. Their website says we should have found out in March and in past years it was around March 26th.

I hear you - I don't think their funding dried up or anything. I simply think that they are just taking longer than expected. Who knows, though? It is kind of lame that they won't respond, though. I emailed the region rep for IIE and heard not a peep from him either. I wish they would let us know - this is crazy!

[SmarteyMartey]

I just received notification that I'm no longer an alternate! SO PUMPED FOR TURKEY!

Applause! That is EXCELLENT! :-D

[venus in jorts]

• I can't wait to hear from Bulgaria!  Totally thought the country would have reported by now - almost all its neighbors did!  I'm thinking about contacting the Program Advisor on the Fulbright website, but I feel like that's an exercise in futility - it's like a Band Aid for the anxiety of waiting.  The only REAL cure for my jitters is the notification (though staying busy with work and exercise and practicing Bulgarian seems to also help pass the time). Stil. . . .  Tick-tock.  Tick-tock.  Tick-tock. . . .

Hey, another Bulgaria ETA applicant here! I actually emailed Eileen O'Malley last week because I've been fully going up the wall about this. She responded with this on Tuesday:

I have no update I’m afraid but am hopeful that it will be soon.

Ha! She thinks ~she's~ hopeful...

[coopfing]

I created a Facebook group called "Fulbright Germany 2014-2015 (ETAs and Full Grants)", if any of the other Germany recipients want to join.

 

And by the way, CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Got a very happy email today, after a horrible night of thesis til 4.30am. I'd love to join the group but I can't find the link either! Looking forward to meeting you all.  

[Glassgirl]

I'm getting concerned about Australia. I emailed 3 different committee members and none have replied (it's been like a week). I hope nothing happened to their funding. Their website says we should have found out in March and in past years it was around March 26th.

[Glassgirl]

Feeling the same about Australia. My committee is confused as to why nothing yet. Still waiting. I keep thinking about '...Final status notifications go out as early as February and can go out as late as June, depending on the country .' June ? Oi

[coopfing]

Anyone know if it's possible to apply to USTA after having completed a Fulbright year, or if it's a one-or-the-other situation?
Morocco heard today, too. Any good news for anyone on this board?

[rosecoyote]

Hey, another Bulgaria ETA applicant here! I actually emailed Eileen O'Malley last week because I've been fully going up the wall about this. She responded with this on Tuesday:

I have no update I’m afraid but am hopeful that it will be soon.

Ha! She thinks ~she's~ hopeful...

So excited to see another Bulgarian hopeful! And a million thanks for emailing Fulbright, despite the ambiguous reply. Haha - what jumps out at me is the words "I fear" - I fear I may never find out! I know it hasn't really been that long, but these have been some looooong days! What side project are you interested in doing? I'm a teacher/grad student by trade, so I'm really excited to try my hand at teaching in Bulgaria, but my research interests are on the engagement of minority youth (especially Roma) in education.

Anyway - so nice to see you on here . I hope we both get accepted soon!!

[venus in jorts]

So excited to see another Bulgarian hopeful! And a million thanks for emailing Fulbright, despite the ambiguous reply. Haha - what jumps out at me is the words "I fear" - I fear I may never find out! I know it hasn't really been that long, but these have been some looooong days! What side project are you interested in doing? I'm a teacher/grad student by trade, so I'm really excited to try my hand at teaching in Bulgaria, but my research interests are on the engagement of minority youth (especially Roma) in education.

Anyway - so nice to see you on here . I hope we both get accepted soon!!

 

Hi there, good to see you too! Not a lot of insight in that email response, I know, but I've been feeling strangely better (a little) since I heard from her. I think the absolute silence was kind of spooking me. I was so sure about last week and now we've almost run out of this week, and knowing that this is the latest Bulgaria has notified in years (ever?), it's still not feeling good. The spreadsheet on here is a real blessing/curse kind of thing!

 

I think I read on the Smith College informational site about the Fulbright (it looks like they have the most amazing support for their applicants, it's unreal) that for many, many ETA decisions, the most important overall factor is teaching experience and a demonstrated passion for engaging youth. So your classroom experience will probably serve you really well in the end! What do you teach and study? I'm graduating this May with an English degree and a minor in TESOL. My area of focus for English is multicultural American lit and for the past couple of years I've edited a multicultural lit journal (based on campus but publishing internationally, too). So I want to direct those interests towards a project about Bulgarian and Balkan literature and national identity; I'm thinking maybe a blog, updated all year, or one or two issues of a journal? I'd like to get my students involved, and hopefully I would be able to publish original work and interviews from contemporary writers. Maybe that's too ambitious. We'll see (I mean, I hope we will).

 

Something I've been wondering about: what do you know about the Fulbright International Summer Institute? I know it takes place in Bulgaria, and it seems like a lot of grantees to Bulgaria go... but does Fulbright like, pay for us to attend?? Because it also looks kinda $$$.

 

Great to see you on here, too! I'm sending out good thoughts for us

[FB2014Aussie]

Feeling the same about Australia. My committee is confused as to why nothing yet. Still waiting. I keep thinking about '...Final status notifications go out as early as February and can go out as late as June, depending on the country .' June ? Oi

I feel like we'll know soon. But, then again, I can't really see a reason why it has taken this long already. Either way - let's hope for the best. Maybe they'll tell us tomorrow? I am just getting to the point that some answer would be better than obsessively waiting!!!

Edited April 4, 2014 by FB2014Aussie

[sammydubbs]

Got the Germany ETA! Now I have to decide between this and JET  . So hard when you have no idea where you'll be placed...

[Anahid]

UGH! No news today. Soooooo frustrated, especially when 5pm rolls around. It's hard just figuring out what to do next, planwise. Hang in there, friends!

[Mozartgirl53]

Yay, good to see another ASD family member on here (I have a younger brother with autism)! Getting a diagnosis seems to often be a huge headache for families. My proposed Fulbright project actually looks at how having the proper formal supports impacts individuals on the spectrum and their families. I'm so glad your son was able to find his way and his passion

Hi olioliwoo, your project sounds fascinating!  What country are you applying to? Yes, back in the late 1980's - early 1990's no one had ever heard of Asperger's. By chance reading that article in Good Housekeeping (I think at the dentist office), I practically jumped up and down screaming because the mom who wrote the article pin-pointed Joey's behavior EXACTLY and told how hard it was for them to get a diagnosis. He also has ADD which made it even trickier. I'm so glad people actually TALK about this stuff now. I'd be really interested in reading your project and the results of it.

[Mozartgirl53]

I've seen "Fulbright Scholar" included under Professional Experience at the top of the CV. I suppose it fits under a few different categories – no harm in listing in twice.

Thanks FakeEmpire! Good point about listing it twice.

[rosecoyote]

Hi there, good to see you too! Not a lot of insight in that email response, I know, but I've been feeling strangely better (a little) since I heard from her. I think the absolute silence was kind of spooking me. I was so sure about last week and now we've almost run out of this week, and knowing that this is the latest Bulgaria has notified in years (ever?), it's still not feeling good. The spreadsheet on here is a real blessing/curse kind of thing!

 

I think I read on the Smith College informational site about the Fulbright (it looks like they have the most amazing support for their applicants, it's unreal) that for many, many ETA decisions, the most important overall factor is teaching experience and a demonstrated passion for engaging youth. So your classroom experience will probably serve you really well in the end! What do you teach and study? I'm graduating this May with an English degree and a minor in TESOL. My area of focus for English is multicultural American lit and for the past couple of years I've edited a multicultural lit journal (based on campus but publishing internationally, too). So I want to direct those interests towards a project about Bulgarian and Balkan literature and national identity; I'm thinking maybe a blog, updated all year, or one or two issues of a journal? I'd like to get my students involved, and hopefully I would be able to publish original work and interviews from contemporary writers. Maybe that's too ambitious. We'll see (I mean, I hope we will).

 

Something I've been wondering about: what do you know about the Fulbright International Summer Institute? I know it takes place in Bulgaria, and it seems like a lot of grantees to Bulgaria go... but does Fulbright like, pay for us to attend?? Because it also looks kinda $$$.

 

Great to see you on here, too! I'm sending out good thoughts for us

 

That sounds really interesting.  I was hoping to put together an after school creative writing program - or contribute to an already existing one - to get the young people to shares their stories online, ideally.  Maybe if we both get accepted, we can put something together for both our schools.  I think that some Fulbrights in the past worked together to create an online journal of student work, and it sounds very rewarding for all those involved. . . . 

 

I have been teaching high school English for a few years now - American literature and also a rhetoric and composition course.  My FPA thought that I may have too much experience to apply for the ETA and suggested I go full research, but after a lot of deliberation I decided that I really felt more drawn to the ETA program.  I have not taught ESL specifically, but my students are VERY diverse in pretty much every way imaginable.  I think I am a little older than most ETA applicants (I'm 33), so that's my other concern.  I was so excited to be recommended - I had pretty much convinced myself that it couldn't happen, despite my genuine passion for all things Bulgarian.

 

As far as grad school, I am working on a second Masters.  Right after undergrad, I got an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, then I started teaching, and now I'm studying International Multicultural Education with an emphasis in Human Rights Education.  (It's a mouthful!)  I've focused half of my studies on equitable curriculum development, which is cool because I can immediately implement things into the classroom and see how it goes, and I have some good clout in my department at the high school - so now we're all teaching units on human rights   But the other half of my research has been focused on post-communist societies in Eastern Europe, and how the transition into capitalist democracies has impacted educational practices and social justice issues, particularly socioeconomic inequality.  Along the way, I started learning Bulgarian (inspired, in part, by some amazing Bulgarian students in my AP English class), and really fell in love with the language and history and culture.  (Have you read Vasov's "Under the Yoke"?  It's the seminal Bulgarian literary work, about a failed revolution when Bulgarians were suffering under Ottoman oppression.  I found an English translation this summer randomly when I was on a road trip at Powell's Books in Portland.  It really helped me to understand better the historical consciousness of Bulgaria.  Excuse me for going on - especially if you're already familiar with this!  Your ideas about national identity made me think of it. )

 

Anyhow - it is really so delightful to "talk" to another Bulgarian hopeful.  My friends think I'm kinda nuts for checking my email (a million) times a day. 

 

Again - I really hope we find out - tomorrow, ideally! - that we are accepted!!!

[rosecoyote]

"Something I've been wondering about: what do you know about the Fulbright International Summer Institute? I know it takes place in Bulgaria, and it seems like a lot of grantees to Bulgaria go... but does Fulbright like, pay for us to attend?? Because it also looks kinda $$$."

 

Oh my goodness - excuse me for writing so much! 

 

I thought they changed that program this year, and it's only for Research Fulbrights?  It looks amazing, but my understanding was that they do a two week or so orientation for ETAs in Bulgaria in September before we start teaching. . . .

[Mozartgirl53]

Hello Mozartgirl53 and Maliyazi,  I am also a recommended applicant for Sub-Saharan Africa for a research grant to South Africa.  Nice to meet you both.  I also am getting increasingly anxious to find out about the final decision.  Has anybody emailed Jermaine Jones (the Program Manager for Sub-Saharan) to ask when he expects notifications to go out this year?  They are usually pretty guarded about that information, but he might at least let us know if it will be in the next week or so.  Good luck with your applications!

Hi jrk2115 and Maliyazi! yay, now there's three of us on here. I haven't emailed anyone because traditionally, according to the excel spreadsheet, results come somewhere between April 15 and the end of April. jrk2115, you and I are both study/research grants, and Maliyazi is applying for ETA. It would be pretty cool if we could somehow meet up while we're there--maybe in Johannesburg, only about a 1 hr flight from Lusaka. At least maybe we could start a SubSaharan Africa facebook page or something. I truly wish the both of you good luck! 

[Mozartgirl53]

ok...those of you who have contacted the program advisors...what have you been saying?

 

I absolutely did not want to email anyone, but now I really need to. My husband is military and we've received some news today and we need to make some big decisions. If I am awarded the Fulbright, it would change the situation quite a bit.

 

I don't know what to say in an email and I don't want to come off as inappropriate.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I would think it would be appropriate to email them, explain your and your husband's situation and let them know a drop-dead date for your having to make a decision. It might not make the decision any faster, but at least they might give you some inkling of when they're going out for your region.

[Mozartgirl53]

Oh my god! Is this a joke?!

 

 

Germany ETA. Subject: Fulbright U.S. Student Program Notification

Hey knshrader, Congratulations!!!

[Mozartgirl53]

I just received notification that I'm no longer an alternate! SO PUMPED FOR TURKEY!

Way to go Yanders!!!!!  Turkey sounds like a fascinating country.

[Mozartgirl53]

I'm getting really jealous of the people that applied to Europe. I really expected Asia to get things going after Japan was notified. Oh well! Patience is a virtue, after all. At least since I'm going to a human rights conference all weekend, I won't be anxiously checking my tomorrow and will have a nice distraction.

Hey there GnosisExchange, sounds like you Asia folks are in the same boat as us SubSaharan Africa folks...everybody gets notified before us.

[Mozartgirl53]

Still anxiously awaiting word from Malaysia... hang in there, everyone. 

 

Also, sorry to be a broken record about my breakup, but this forum has really been a great distraction and a source of hope for me over the past couple of weeks. It's nice to be reminded that there are so many paths our lives can take, and sometimes we end up doing things we never imagined-- in a good way. Those of you who have not been awarded the Fulbright but have still remained positive about your next steps in life have been such great symbols of this hopefulness for me, so thank you. 

 

Okay, that was painfully sappy, but I'm not even sorry. Haha. Here's to hoping that tomorrow will be the day for the rest of us!

Hi sorubo, I'm glad we could be here for you. Be as sappy as you want, lol. I hope you hear soon!

[Mozartgirl53]

Also, State Department approval? Like, I know they have to finalize our country's decisions, but do they ever actually...reject anyone at the last moment? What would ever cause someone to get an acceptance rescinded at the very last second?

I would guess they do a criminal background check and perhaps check to see if you are a tax evader. I can't imagine them rejecting anyone at the last moment for anything less.

[Mozartgirl53]

"That sounds really interesting.  I was hoping to put together an after school creative writing program - or contribute to an already existing one - to get the young people to shares their stories online, ideally.  Maybe if we both get accepted, we can put something together for both our schools.  I think that some Fulbrights in the past worked together to create an online journal of student work, and it sounds very rewarding for all those involved. . . ."

 

Hey there rosecoyote and venus in jorts, sorry to horn in on your Bulgaria talk, but I think this is a great idea! If my project is accepted (Zambia) I may "steal" your idea and work with the kids at the school I'll be posted nearby to do something like that. Part of my project is building an interactive web site for the Chewa people, and this would be a neat thing to put on there. Thanks for the amazing idea!!!

[starlettmimi]

Hello fellow Fulbright applicants. I have been lurking around for about the last 50 pages of comments. I applied to be an ETA in Laos this year (hello Mo). I am unique in that I do not currently live in the US. I currently live/work in Thailand. Anyone else in a similiar situation?

Sabaidee chok dee!

 

I want to wish you luck too! What part of Thailand are you teaching at? I've only been to Bangkok and Chiang Mai for a couple of weeks, and if I take my alternative offer to Thailand, I would be teaching English at the university level in Payap University. It sounds like you've enjoyed your time in Thailand, and I think a Fulbright in Laos makes sense as your next step in your journey.

 

I really hope we hear soon! I have to make my decision about Thailand in the next week, but your position gives me hope and if I'm selected as an alterned or a non recepient to reapply again. The worse scenario would be to find out that I get it after I accepted GrinnellCorps in Thailand.

 

The Horror.

 

Has anyone else heard of any scenarios like that or one of the few who has had to consider declining a Fulbright?