Yay, I got a Fulbright! Now what?

Written By Ellie Talbot

WHAT IS A FULBRIGHT?

  • Fulbright is a prestigious international education program sponsored by the U.S. Government and administered by the Department of State. Fulbright's goal is promote cultural understanding between the United States and other countries all around the globe. It offers scholarships, grants, and fellowships to students, scholars, teachers, professionals, and artists from around the world. These opportunities allow individuals to study, conduct research, teach, or pursue creative endeavors in the United States or in one of the 140 other participating countries.

WHATS THE APPLICATION PROCESS?

  • Fulbright applicants go through a rigorous application process by submitting a "Personal Statement" and a "Statement of Grant Purpose" along with many other requirements such as recommendations and the design of a Suplemental project that are personalized the specific country in which the applicant is applying. Followed by a virtual interview and lots of waiting in between.

WHERE AM I GOING?

  • I personally applied for an English Teaching Assistant Award in Mexico. I went into the process with zero expectations and after much preparation, many tears, and by the grace of God, I won the Award. This means in the fall of 2023 I will move to Mexico to live and teach there for nine months, a calendar school year.

MY PROGRAM:

  • Fulbright is made possible by the collaborations between the U.S. government and the Governments Abroad. COMEXUS is the leading binational agency dedicated to promoting understanding—through education—between Mexico and the United States. Like I stated above, I applied for my Fulbright in Mexico. My award is the FULBRIGHT-COMEXUS García Robles Scholarship. This is essentially a grant from the Mexican Government to teach English in Mexico in one of their Selected schools.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS and GOD'S HANDIWORK IN IT.

The entire application process for this Fulbright award has been completely guided by the hand of God and through the Intercession of his Blessed Mother Mary. It is through my surrender and his grace that I, lil ole Ellie from podunk Alabama, has received this scholarship that even Ivy League Graduates compete for. Small flex haha. But on a serious note, from day one of beginning my application with my go getter advisor, Dr. Matthew Price, it was the one of the most tangible acts of surrender that I ever had to give to our Lord. On the verge of graduation without a single plan B in mind I began the application with zero expectations. I sat down and before writing a single word, imitated our blessed Mother's "Fiat", her "yes" to God's will at the Annunciation, and said out loud, "Thy will be done". Little did I know this would be my anthem for the next year during the application.

I originally planned to apply for my Fulbright in Colombia, but God has a funny way of taking our plans and "wrecking" them which in turn makes them 100x more beautiful. That was the case for me. Nearly halfway through writing my Personal Statement and Statement of Grant Purpose for Colombia, I was riddled with unrest and found no peace in the thought of going there. So, I prayed about it and strangely Mexico kept coming up in my prayer time and time again. Teary eyed, sitting in my advisors office, I told him that it's hard to explain but I feel called to apply to Mexico. Without skipping a beat he said something along the lines of, "Well lets get you to Mexico." So we essentially scrapped my entire application and started from square 1.

From there, Dr. Price helped me curate draft, after draft, after draft. It was through a lot of battles of self doubt and insecurity that I finally was able to whip up some essays that I could be proud of. I never thought that this application would be as spiritually challenging as it was. It taught me so many things about self confidence and self-worth. Growing up, you are always told you can be anything you want to be, but it wasn't until this year that I allowed the Lord to teach me and start to believe it for myself that I am truly worthy and capable of big things, far bigger than could even imagine. This realization came with lots of prayer the consistent help and encouragement of Dr. Price along with my professors, Dr. Vance and Dr. Alvarado-Brizuela, from the Foreign Language Department. Shoutout to my alma mater, University of North Alabama, Roar Lions!

Fast forward and I have submitted my prepped and primmed application. Remember when I said God has a funny way of changing our plans? Well, before I submitted my application I had the audacity to tell God that if he didn't want this for my life to not even tease the idea of it because I didn't want the stress of waiting (and subconsciously, trusting Him...so much for the "thy will be done" right?). When applying to Fulbright you have the opportunity to be a "recipient", but you can also be selected as an "alternate". If you are selected as an alternate it is highly unlikely you will be called up as a recipient. But apparently God favors the unlikely. Essentially laughing at my gumption, after months of waiting on the status of my application, I receive the all dreaded decision email. I got alternate. Frustrated with God for seemingly teasing me after I begged, well, more so told him not to, He gives me the response I least wanted. I would have preferred a cold "no" than and "maybe" but a "maybe" was exactly what I got. Looking at it now it was just His way of telling me "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) And it was another opportunity for me to trust him fully with his will for my life. Unsure if I should wait to hear if I will be called up from alternate to recipient knowing how unlikely it would be, I wrestle once more with God about how and when to trust him. I decide to give the God outside of space and time one more month of waiting before abandoning Fulbright all together to begin job searching. Who am I to try and put God on a timeline, when his timing is perfect? As if sending me this reminder Himself, one month later ON THE DOT I receive another email from Fulbright saying I have been selected. And so the adventure begins...along with lots more learning how to trust God and allow his hand in things.

HELPFUL LINKS:

NOVENA OF SURRENDER:

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

If you or someone you know might be interested in applying for a Fulbright Award, I highly recommend visiting their website linked below for more information!

SHOUTOUT:

Ellie Talbot
Previous

Guanajuato: El Festival internacional Cervantino
Next

Why Start GringaGoesAbroad?