Applying for the Fulbright: Challenges and Tips

   

    I almost didn’t apply for the Fulbright.

    After a few initial discussions with my advisor at Ohio University in the spring of 2021, I started preparing to apply for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant position. Over the next few months, I wrote, and edited, and re-wrote, and re-edited, and sometimes entirely scrapped my essays. My advisor was incredibly helpful and encouraging, but as the summer set in, so did extreme self-doubt, anxiety, and fear. I stopped responding to his emails. I avoided looking at the folder on my desktop containing my application materials, convinced I had no shot. I fell off the bandwagon. I didn’t just fall, I let fear shove me off. 

    My City Year AmeriCorps experience broke the spell and proved that not only am I capable of overcoming adversity and thriving in a new, unfamiliar environment, but it convinced me that I am worthy of a Fulbright award. 

    This past year serving with City Year AmeriCorps was, in a way, a new cultural experience. I completely immersed myself in a school system vastly removed from the one I grew up in. It is one thing to learn about redlining, the effects of systemic racism on our education system, and chronic underfunding, yet it is entirely different to observe its effects around you each day. Not only that, but these students had just endured a year of isolation, virtual learning, and all the political, civil, and personal turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They seemed to forget and needed to be reminded of even basic classroom procedures and manners. They were—and remain—far behind academically and socially. My coworkers and I did our best to help students catch up, but it simply was not enough.

    “You cannot pour from an empty cup.” That vital lesson saved me from terminating my service early. From day one, I knew I needed to teach my students more than just the core subjects; I also needed to help them with social emotional learning, readjusting to in-person school, and basic life skills like forming healthy friendships. Quickly, I bonded with my students and came to care for them as unique, incredible, complex individuals. However, I lost sight of my field of control, worrying endlessly about my students’ lives outside of school, thinking about their challenges and wondering what more I could do. These thoughts ensnared my mind beyond the school walls, following me on my commute and invading my home. It took me months of exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and being unable to separate work from home life to realize that my thoughts were not helping anyone. They were unproductive and even harmful. I could only help my students during school hours, and anything else was out of my control. To finish the year with my students—that was paramount to me—I (mostly) stopped worrying about what I couldn’t realistically change, affect, or control and instead focused on what I could. I created boundaries, like not thinking about work at home, to care for myself. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had any energy left to finish the year.

    This lesson, among the many others I learned, reassured me that I have the resilience it takes to complete a Fulbright and I submitted the application on time last fall. If you are considering applying for an English Teaching Assistant position, here are some tips from me:

•  The “prestige” of Fulbright should not be what motivates you. Know that you are applying for a teaching position, not just a travel experience.
• Recruit several people to read and edit your essays. My advisor from OU was an enormous help to me throughout the entire application process. His critiques and recommendations, I believe, pushed me to create the best version of what my essays could be.
• The application process, particularly writing the essays, will teach you about yourself, your ambitions, your core values, and your career goals. Even if you are rejected, applying can be an educational and worthwhile experience on its own.
• Be resilient throughout the process. Allow yourself to feel the negative emotions that may present themselves, like self-doubt and fear, but do not let them overshadow your motivations for applying and the multitude of reasons why you’re the right person for this position.
• Mention past experiences working with children.
• Make plans for how you want to engage with your local community. Scholars can only leave their host country for a total of 14 days during their Fulbright grant period, so don’t expect to be touring the continent every weekend. 
• Express an openness to new experiences, diversity, and personal growth.
• So many articles and videos are focused on how to get the Fulbright, but not how to do the job. Advocate for your skills, your expertise, and your experiences, whether you have formally taught in a classroom or not, and how they will help you perform your duties. (For example, in my Personal Statement, I included a story from when I was a camp counselor.)

    The only way to guarantee rejection is to stop yourself from trying. Go for it.