While in DC, I also met my Fulbright mentor, Jennifer Fox. She and I have been corresponding and talking on the phone for a long time and it was a delight to finally meet her in person. She's incredible - which I already knew from my interactions but which was confirmed in spades when we met in person. She's extremely bright, of course, as one would expect of someone in the Fulbright organization, and she knows SO much about the program but even more importantly, the process. She was very encouraging and she got as excited as I am. What a terrific afternoon!
She confirmed that Fulbright Scholars are encouraged to make connections with other organizations (such as the OAS) to extend their impact as far as possible. Her one caution (which is a key one!) is not to over-extend too far. That's a serious possibility, given how expansively the network is growing.
But how to make choices about where to focus my energy is something I haven't really mastered yet. Perhaps by empowering others to do things with support I can accomplish all that I hope to? Sounds like a good way to go to me anyway - thanks, Jennifer!
Interestingly, we were going to meet on Monday, but had to postpone our meeting because Jennifer was stuck in San Francisco (!) due to a plane crash at the airport shortly before she was leaving for DC. How ironic! I was taking the red eye to get to DC in time for our meeting - but we could have had it in SF had we only known. She was in SF to fulfill something on her Pre-30th birthday bucket list - namely hang-gliding! See what I mean about amazing?
Wow, indeed! I am extremely impressed that you are managing to blog!!! How do you do it, Susan? It's a good thing that your mind runs as fast as it does -- and those beading fingers. This really is going to be the experience of a lifetime.
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