On March 30, GCSU’s Honors College and National Scholarships Office hosted a dinner seminar at the Humber White House for students to learn more about the opportunity to study, research or teach abroad through the U.S. Fulbright Scholarship.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program offers a wide range of awards for undergraduate and graduate students, professors, teachers and career professionals. The U.S. Fulbright Student Program, however, is specifically designed for recent graduates to go abroad to study, research or serve as English teaching assistants.
“The goal of Fulbright is for recent grads to go abroad and serve as unofficial cultural ambassadors, to get to know people in other countries, to teach them about what Americans are like and then bring that knowledge back to the U.S.,” said Anna Whiteside, GCSU’s National Scholarships Coordinator. “One phrase Fulbright uses a lot is mutual cultural exchange, and that’s really what’s at the heart.”
According to the U.S. Fulbright Program website, the United States Congress established the Fulbright Program in 1946 following World War II as an investment in global peace and American prosperity through educational and cultural exchange. Today, the program awards more than 1,800 scholarships annually to over 140 countries.
Although applications are evaluated holistically, based on academic and leadership qualities rather than GPA, the program is highly competitive. Whiteside works directly with students to polish their applications as much as possible.
“It’s a very competitive program, so it’s one that people want to do several drafts of,” Whiteside said. “I think that at least five drafts is a good number, if not more. I have had applicants do up to 20.”
Whiteside also noted that GCSU has a strong history with the Fulbright program, including alumni who have received awards in Mongolia, South Korea, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Greece, North Macedonia and Finland. Whiteside emphasized that these experiences foster significant professional, personal and academic growth.
“We’re living in an increasingly globalized world,” Whiteside said. “Any opportunity where you are forced to go and learn how to communicate with people who are from a different cultural background, any opportunity where you are put in an uncomfortable situation and have to figure out how to live in that situation, is a good opportunity for growth.”
Fulbright participants join an elite global network of alumni spanning fields such as literature, music, economics, science, government and public service. Many alumni have gone on to earn numerous Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes and serve as heads of state all over the world. Whiteside noted that no matter where alumni go after their program, the name recognition and networking available can be a significant advantage in the job market.
“Fulbright has been around for a long time and is a really well-respected program,” Whiteside said. “It’s a very well-regarded program and people recognize that name, so it’s certainly beneficial for jobs.”
Crystabel Kwarteng, a junior psychology major, said her interest in the program was sparked by the prospect of a scholarship that aligns with her personal and academic goals.
“I just heard about the fact that, one, it’s a scholarship, two, I’m graduating soon, and I knew there would be an opportunity to maybe go overseas,” Kwarteng said. “Something that I would want to do is pairing either teaching English or the medical field with sharing the Gospel overseas.”
Kwarteng said she’s especially interested in opportunities in Africa or Europe but hopes to pursue a less common destination to experience a culture she might not otherwise encounter.
“I’ve been to Zambia before, so it’d be a blessing to go somewhere in Africa, but Europe would also be super cool,” Kwarteng said. “But I know that most people want to go to Europe, so I’d want to go somewhere that not everyone already wants to go to, because then it would be a totally different culture.”
For more information on the U.S. Fulbright Scholarship, visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/ or contact GCSU’s National Scholarships Office at [email protected].
