I feel so honored to have been selected as a Finalist for the Fulbright ETA scholarship program in Taiwan.
The selective program has an average of 500 applicants each year and selects only about 100 of those to travel to Taiwan and assist the English education programs at local schools.
This award was made possible by my peers, mentors, professors, and friends in the GLOA department and off-campus who encouraged me along my journey of studying and working in Global Affairs.
A fun fact about me is that I started off my university career as a biology major for the first few semesters. I finally made the decision to switch to a major in Global Affairs after speaking with Professor Nicholas Hultin in the Fall semester of my second year.
That same year, I started Global Affairs coursework and began meeting and assisting international students as a student worker in INTO Mason (the part of Mason that helps international students adjust to university classes and life at GMU).
Though I thoroughly enjoyed subject matter taught in the Global Affairs Department, I lacked knowledge and experience to secure entrance into the programs I was most interested in, such as the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program and the seasonal State Department internship program.
After several failed attempts to gain acceptance to any Department of State student programs, I decided to volunteer in the Refugee and Resettlement section of a local resettlement agency.
I volunteered for three months and then became a paid Case Manager with the agency at the beginning of my fourth year in university - it ended up being an amazing first job experience!
That’s why, after graduating from GMU’s Global Affairs Bachelor’s Program (with a minor in Chinese Language Studies) in the Spring of 2022, it was hard for me to leave my case management work and travel to Taiwan to finally practice my language skills abroad.
But, it was during this trip where I met a fellow GMU language student, Carma Elharazi, who inspired me to take a look at the Fulbright program offerings, introduced me to Mason’s Office of Fellowships, and encouraged me to apply to the Taiwan Fulbright ETA program. I am incredibly grateful to Carma and to the team in the Office of Fellowships for introducing me to this opportunity and I am excited to begin my Fulbright this upcoming August!
Throughout my university career, my philosophy was always that it is important to fail before succeeding, not only because the efforts will make the accomplishment seem much more special, but because the failures teach you about the process. Failures teach you how not to move, think, act, etc. and where you need to develop skills for succeeding in that certain area.
April 21, 2023