I'm Gonna Be Me, I'm Gonna Be Free

Wow, my blog had 77 reads in the first day, across America as well as  Spain and Canada. So apparently, you readers are out there. No pressure haha.

Part 1- WHAT FULBRIGHT IS:

I thought I’d explain exactly what Fulbright is, and what I will be doing abroad! The website states that my Student Fulbright is:

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistantships.  A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S.
During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences.  The program facilitates cultural exchange through direct interaction on an individual basis in the classroom, field, home, and in routine tasks, allowing the grantee to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.

http://us.fulbrightonline.org/fulbright-us-student-program

To apply for my Fulbright I had to write a personal statement explaining: why I chose Bulgaria, what research I had read pertaining to my research topic and how I wanted to expand upon or contest that research, how I planned on doing it, what background I had to prove I could conduct this research, proof that I could handle living there for a year, proof I could learn a language in less than a month etc. Then I had to submit an ETA essay explaining my background in teaching, how I would teach my students, why I wanted to teach them, what community activity I wanted to start, why etc. Could I be a good ambassador for America while still embracing Bulgaria?

Long story short…I learned conversational Czech in a month living in Prague, and once I thought about that I knew I could handle anything. I am horrible at languages, but I will try anything to make a difference! I wrote my essays, which both can only be ONE PAGE IN LENGTH. If you are thinking “wow that is so much to pack into a page…” yes, yes it is. I was lucky, I had a fantastic English professor at my undergrad institution who read every draft and helped me use each word carefully. And when it felt like I should just give up, I look at my college graduation photo and remembered everything I never thought I could do that I did…and began again.

PART 2- THE PLAN:

My plan! Mwahahaha! I am moving to Bourgas, Bulgaria for a year. I found research on Bulgaria done in 2008/09 that showed how Bulgaria had made a promise to move towards gender equality; however the researcher found there were still major gaps in education. I think it is underlying cultural norms that over time lead to gender disparity in education and so will conduct a qualitative study to test my hypothesis and then look for solutions to decrease the gap.Gender equality is one of the few things that I think can make a difference for future generations. Without education, tolerance, acceptance, equality, and an end to the "isms,"...well let's just say I don't want to dream of a world like that. Equality for all, or equally we fall.

Besides that I will teach at the Foreign Language High school, 9^th and 10^th grade History in English and set up an after school program for females to encourage them to pursue university and set career goals. I will also run the debate team at my high school, tutor, interact a lot with outreach programs in the area, travel, etc. (Too many plans, too many goals to list)

In the end I want to be able to look at my students and know I impacted how they view going to university, for them to know I am there for them and to leave Bulgaria with a little bit of “Anna sass” ;)

Part 3- SUMMATION:

Fulbright is a very lengthy, tiresome, and scary application process to go through. Once you finish your essays that you work months on, you then submit your application so that your university can read it, then you are given a panel interview date. Your university selects a panel of different professors to read your application, critique it, offer suggestions, then interview you based on criteria they have decided makes you prepared to be their Fulbright candidate. My interview, I will not lie, was intense, disheartening, odd, and I honestly walked out thinking they were not going to recommend me for this fellowship. Whatever that committee said in their recommendation, however, must have been great because I am a Fulbright recipient! After you do your interview you have a week to take all their advice and changes to heart, re-write your application and re-submit. Then you wait for about 4 months to find out if you made it to the final round of selection. Fulbright choose 1.5 to 2 x the number of grants from the first round to pass into the final round. Then the final committee’s meet and pick the recipients, and the alternates for each country. You wait anywhere from 2 more months, to 5 more months to know your fate. I was very lucky and found out 3 days before my birthday that I was selected! I was in my graduate course on Social Problems, and ran into the hall to call my family and friends. Me, the person who shows up to class the second I am not contagious with swine flu-ran out of the class thinking only of telling the world.

The process can be grueling, but it is worth it. I know it sounds scary, and honestly it is. But it is the best scary experience you will have in your life. I don’t regret a moment of it, and now I have the opportunity to make not only my dreams, but other peoples dreams a reality.

And that is Fulbright, and my research plans in a nutshell!! 

Today's song choice is "Vienna" which details a young person rushing towards achieving what they want, while needing to slow down and think about what is waiting for them. I worried a lot before applying that I would be missing the world in front of me if I rushed into this, but thankfully I find that it is with this that I will find what is waiting for me.  

Anna