Life is coming full circle.
It's time to "pay back" so I decided to run for the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chapter of the Fulbright Association - the group you join after you return from a Fulbright experience. And I won. So now, I go to my first meeting - the hand-off from last year's Board to all of us. I'm excited but also a bit nervous given how busy things have gotten.
And I am working on another Fulbright application - this time for a Global Scholar grant. I'm buried in it right now, but will share what it's about after it's submitted. It's due August 1 but I'm hoping I can get it in early because I'm going to be so busy near that time.
Writing the application for the Fulbright in Panama was really a peak experience for me. I reveled in the language and ideas - and, importantly, I had people around me to bounce ideas off of. That's different this time, but I have been trying to hone the arguments - and too the writing - with David and anyone else who steps in my direction. It's getting clearer, too, as the people I'd be working with are chiming in and offering their suggestions on how to do this work together. I'm REALLY excited about it - but I also realize that it's a very long shot because there are many people interested in the award. I did talk with Caitlin in the program office on Friday and she said that the project I'm proposing sounded like something that would be interesting to the reviewers. We shall see!
Showing posts with label Fulbright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fulbright. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2016
Full Circle
Life is coming full circle.
It's time to "pay back" so I decided to run for the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chapter of the Fulbright Association - the group you join after you return from a Fulbright experience. And I won. So now, I go to my first meeting - the hand-off from last year's Board to all of us. I'm excited but also a bit nervous given how busy things have gotten.
And I am working on another Fulbright application - this time for a Global Scholar grant. I'm buried in it right now, but will share what it's about after it's submitted. It's due August 1 but I'm hoping I can get it in early because I'm going to be so busy near that time.
Writing the application for the Fulbright in Panama was really a peak experience for me. I reveled in the language and ideas - and, importantly, I had people around me to bounce ideas off of. That's different this time, but I have been trying to hone the arguments - and too the writing - with David and anyone else who steps in my direction. It's getting clearer, too, as the people I'd be working with are chiming in and offering their suggestions on how to do this work together. I'm REALLY excited about it - but I also realize that it's a very long shot because there are many people interested in the award. I did talk with Caitlin in the program office on Friday and she said that the project I'm proposing sounded like something that would be interesting to the reviewers. We shall see!
It's time to "pay back" so I decided to run for the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chapter of the Fulbright Association - the group you join after you return from a Fulbright experience. And I won. So now, I go to my first meeting - the hand-off from last year's Board to all of us. I'm excited but also a bit nervous given how busy things have gotten.
And I am working on another Fulbright application - this time for a Global Scholar grant. I'm buried in it right now, but will share what it's about after it's submitted. It's due August 1 but I'm hoping I can get it in early because I'm going to be so busy near that time.
Writing the application for the Fulbright in Panama was really a peak experience for me. I reveled in the language and ideas - and, importantly, I had people around me to bounce ideas off of. That's different this time, but I have been trying to hone the arguments - and too the writing - with David and anyone else who steps in my direction. It's getting clearer, too, as the people I'd be working with are chiming in and offering their suggestions on how to do this work together. I'm REALLY excited about it - but I also realize that it's a very long shot because there are many people interested in the award. I did talk with Caitlin in the program office on Friday and she said that the project I'm proposing sounded like something that would be interesting to the reviewers. We shall see!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Special thanks
I want to extend a special thanks to the book donors:
- Christopher LaRoche
- Elisa Kaplan Miller
- Elsevier Publishing
- Morgan & Claypool
- Morgan Kaufman
- Rosenfeld Media
Their generosity has created a small library of extremely relevant and timely books for future UTP faculty and students. On their behalf as well as on mine, THANK YOU!
Also, thanks to the Fulbright Program, sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and particularly, Jennifer Fox for her support and encouragement as I prepared to come to Panama.
Thanks to the faculty, staff and students of the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, and to the staff at the US Embassy in Panama City.
Most of all, thanks to my wonderful family who supported me throughout the process of applying, preparing for, and living this adventure.
So long, farewell... (Friday)
Today began by going over to UTP one last time. It was so bittersweet! Indeed, it felt more bitter than sweet - I'm going to miss my friends and students here!
I had promised Geralis that I would do something to decorate the blank wall in her office, but I hadn't yet done it. So of course I had to begin by doing this - with Post-Its of course and with every color I had! Here's what it looked like when I was done (the purple in the middle is her name)
The department had a traditional meal in my honor, and Dean Nicolas "awarded" me with a green ribbon of graduation, as well as a UTP pen-cum-laser pointer (something I had coveted for a long time!) and a Fulbright pin from Karla, who was not able to attend. I got to say good-bye to friends (left) and students (right)
And also, to my office. I stared at this picture many times while thinking and brainstorming, so I wanted to be sure to capture it for the future.
And then it was time for me to leave. Sadly, I closed the door to my office one last time.
Friday evening, I finally got to meet my friend, Annette, face to face! We had talked about it, strategized about it, and planned it a number of times, but had never actually been able to meet. But Friday night, Itzel and Yasmine brought us together for a splendid dinner in Casco Viejo.
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| Annette |
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| Itzel |
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| Yasmine |
Ah, Panama! I will miss you!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Momentum: Fulbright's Amazing Jennifer
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?
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?
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