Fulbright: Final Steps

It took me awhile, but I finally finished my Fulbright application. Even though I started the application in June, it took me all the way up until the deadline (October 13th) in order for me to complete it. This is a testament to the length of the process and the dedication that applicants need to have in order to complete and submit a quality application. The last two components of the application that I completed were the affiliation letter and the language evaluation. I also had my campus committee meeting a few weeks ago.

The affiliation letter was the most frustrating part of the application process. While the majority of the process is dedicated to writing and revising the statement of grant purpose and personal statement, selfishly asking professors in another country for an affiliation letter to research in the country seems inauthenthic and serves as an additional hurdle for applicants to surpass. Many professors don’t even want to take the time to read applicants’ proposals because it just seems like undue work for them. Professors certainly do not get the same amount of accolades for accepting to be a Fulbright adviser as they would, say, being on a students’ thesis committee, so the whole process does not give much incentive for them to accept a Fulbright proposal.

When I reached out to professors, the amount of responses I got were sparse, even though I typically cc’ed each professor’s assistant to the e-mails I sent. I don’t blame any of them for the lack of fervor they showed in acquiescing to my request. A random student from a completely different country that they have no relationship with is asking them to read his proposal, write a letter of affiliation and accept to be his advisor for ten months? Sounds dubious to me too.

The absolute best way to go about getting an affiliation letter is to find the person on campus who negotiates exchange programs between other schools. I found this out the hard way. After cold e-mailing a dozen professors from different universities and getting no real leads, I was completely stuck. Out of desperation, I started asking different people on campus for advice and was eventually pointed in the correct direction. Getting in contact with the exchange advisor was the only reason I ended up getting the letter in the end, and it just so happened to be only a few days before the deadline, which would have been a lot of work for nothing.

My language evaluation was a similar failure. I actually finished it after the campus deadline. However, since the campus deadline is a couple of weeks before the program’s official deadline, I was still able to submit my project. If I had tried to turn it in after the official deadline, then I would have been out of luck. There are no exceptions to the deadline, and anyone who is late cannot be considered for a Fulbright award.

However, I could have simply turned it in without a language evaluation. This was my original intention anyway. My Korean is not very good, so I figured I could just list that I have a basic level of Korean without actually submitting a language evaluation. Unfortunately, this is not the case. So long as an applicant knows a language at a level higher than essentially zero, he has to submit a language evaluation: another formality of the Fulbright application process. Since I know a little bit of Korean, at the very least, I wanted to reflect that on my application. Therefore, at the last second, I was forced to find an evaluator to test my language abilities.

Of course, an applicant also has the option of just saying he has no understanding of the language of the country he is applying to. I was considering doing this if I could not find a language evaluator in time for the official deadline. However, this is not recommended if an applicant knows the language. Knowing the country’s language, or at the very least, showing the Fulbright committee an effort to learn the language is quite beneficial to an applicant.

As far as my campus committee meeting goes, it went quite well. It was much less of an interview as I thought it would be and more of an advising session. I learned a lot of great things from my campus committee, and they really helped me to focus my statement of grant purpose for its final iteration. It helped that I am knowledgeable about my Fulbright topic, so I was able to comfortably discuss with them some of my concerns with the project going forward. In all, the campus committee meeting is one of the more enjoyable and useful aspects of the application process, and I actually wish I could have met with them more than once.

So, that’s it as far as my Fulbright application goes. If anybody has any questions about the process or even my project, feel free to ask them in the comments section below. I won’t find out about the status of my application until early next year, but when I find out, I will make sure to post an update about it. Thanks for reading. Until next time.

Fulbright Application Process

I have applied for so many things in my life that I can’t even remember what they all are. I have applied to schools. I have spent summers applying for countless numbers of jobs. I have applied for scholarships, fellowships and internships. I have applied for study abroad, and I have applied for short trips abroad. Many of my colleagues at grad school go through a similar process. With an interdisciplinary degree, in a very competitive and global world it is especially important for recent graduates to have a wide range of skills that are transferable to many different career paths. Thus, putting out countless numbers of applications to a variety of opportunities is not uncommon.

However, what many people do not have experience with is the Fulbright application process. Fulbright is such a prestigious name among college awards that some do not even apply for it for fear of not getting accepting. Applicants must devote a vast amount of time to the process in order to be competitive, which is what shies some people away from even trying to apply in the first place. I am dedicating this post to discussing what the process is like for anybody who is interested in applying or for anyone who is just interested in knowing how the process works. Disclaimer: it’s complex and difficult.

For anybody unfamiliar with the program, Fulbright is actually a multitude of different awards housed under one name. The two most familiar awards are the teaching abroad scholarship and the research abroad scholarship; however, there are a number of other awards available, such as awards dedicated to art research, digital media production and a slew of other opportunities that I’m certain exist but I’m not aware of. I am currently in the process of applying for the research grant.

Most grants require a couple of basic components. The two primary elements that require the most work from the applicant are the personal statement and the statement of grant purpose. This is especially true if an applicant applies through their home institution. Revising and meeting with campus advisors is one of the most time consuming parts of the whole process but also probably the most crucial. I have met with my Fulbright advisor more than four times since the summer started and have made more than ten total revisions to my application materials. This, obviously, takes a considerable amount of time.

Fulbright applicants also have to supply three different letters of recommendation, and depending on the type of grant being applied for, have to submit a letter of affiliation from someone in the country that they are applying for. There are a couple of smaller additional requirements, as well, especially as the applicant moves along in the application process. One of these is an on-campus interview with campus committee members after the main application is submitted online. This interview is just designed for the committee to get a better understanding of the project and its details and to give the project the committee’s final stamp of approval.

One of the most difficult parts of the application, however, is that it is just very confusing. During the application process, I found myself doing things incorrectly a number of times just because of how unclear the application process is. For instance, I wasn’t even aware I had to do an online application for my project because I am working through my school’s Fulbright office to complete my application materials. I thought they submitted all of the materials for me. This is incorrect. It doesn’t matter whether applicants apply through the school or by themselves, applications need to be filled out online by the applicants.

Of course, the application process also consists of other basic and mundane components similar to other comprehensive applications. Applicants need to upload transcripts and other relevant documents to their applications. They also have to answer a number of questions within the online application detailing their project and reasons for pursuing the project. Even though all of this is covered in the statement of grant purpose and personal statement, it is required.

Lastly, if an applicant has any sort of language proficiency in the country for which he is applying, he must get a language evaluator to attest to his proficiency. This evaluator, like the rest of the process, must be found by the applicant, and the proficiency test must also be secured by the applicant. Fulbright does not even provide proficiency test templates. Of course, each language would require a different test. However, by not providing a template for their proficiency requirements, it makes it harder to better evaluate the applicant’s language proficiency. Fulbright only provides a basic chart for how the evaluator is supposed to test the applicant’s proficiency, but its lack of detail creates ambiguity for how the evaluator should effectively judge the applicant’s language abilities based on Fulbright’s expected requirements.

This underscores what is really the main problem with the whole Fulbright process. The applicant has to do everything. Fulbright really doesn’t provide any support to the applicants beyond the application instructions. This makes the Fulbright process more of a guessing game than an actual merit-based competition. Many applicants may stumble across the proper resources they need to submit the best application possible, but other applicants may not even understand the proper requirements for it. And with so much convoluted information on the Fulbright website, it makes it a slog for applicants to work through the process.

However, there is a benefit to going through the whole Fulbright application process, whether or not an applicant is selected. Understanding how these applications work helps applicants during the process of future applications. Fulbright is definitely one of the hardest applications I have worked through, and I am not even done with the process. I still have my campus committee interview to do, as well as securing a letter of affiliation. Going through such a difficult process will provide valuable experience to applicants looking to apply to other opportunities with rigorous competition.

I’ll send out an update about my campus committee interview and the rest of the Fulbright progress as it gets closer to completion. Then we’ll see how I really did. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Joseph Kim: reddit and TED Talk

Going back to this blog’s Korean roots, I want to share the story of Joseph Kim, a North Korean man who defected from North Korea and ended up living in the U.S. with a foster family with the help of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). Joseph recently shared his story on a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) that can be found here:

Joseph Kim reddit AMA

His story is a harrowing look into what it’s like living in North Korea and the challenges of trying to live a new life after defecting from the country. Contrary to what one may find in a book, Joseph details a lot of the little things about being a North Korean defector that many people might not be aware of. For anyone with an interest in North Korea, personal anecdotes or just a really engaging story, I recommend checking out his AMA. There are a lot of interesting vignettes in there that even I (somewhat of a Korea specialist) found enlightening.

He also has a TED Talk, which goes into a little bit more detail about his full story on defecting and includes some more information about his family that he doesn’t answer in his AMA. You can check it out here:

TED Talk

For anyone interested in helping out people like Joseph or for those who just want to know more about the work that Liberty in North Korea does, check out their website here. They work for a great cause, and I’m sure they could use the support.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.

Life’s Dichotomy

There is a weird dichotomy that I have noticed in life. It’s something that I have discussed with others, and many people have agreed with me. This dichotomy is that people tend to be happier the busier they are. This obviously means that people are less happy when they are less busy, which is weird considering one might think people would be happier if they were less busy since they would have more time for the hobbies that they enjoy.

I think this dichotomy exists because people feel a sense of satisfaction at completing tasks; at getting things done. Thus, it would make sense that people are happier when they are busier since they are, presumably, getting more things done. There is, however, a breaking point. If someone is too busy and has no time for any of their hobbies, their happiness quotient would understandably drop a considerable amount.

However, even if it is assumed that this dichotomy is true, an even more interesting aspect to this is that people seem to have more time for their hobbies when they are busier. Personally, I can remember specific times in my life when I was extraordinarily busy yet had just as much, if not more fun, than the times in my life that were more relaxed. Again, another dichotomy.

I think this is true because people waste less time when they are busier. Since they realize they have such a little amount of time, they do not waste it on unfulfilling activities. This means that the little amount of free time that they do have, they are spending it on things that are important to them, like spending time with family and friends. They are forced to choose between the most essential activities in their lives, which filters out all of the garbage in their lives, leading to more fulfilling free time. They aren’t wasting it on silly things like Netflix marathons, playing flash games all night or reading Wikipedia articles for five hours straight.

These dichotomies are something that have always interested me. It seems I am on a constant course to try and maximize the amount of free time that I have. I think most people try to do the same thing actually, at least within the confines of trying to be successful in their careers, as well. However, it is odd that it seems like the more I try and maximize my free time, the less fulfilling it tends to be.

Maybe this all boils down to having a greater purpose in life. If people have a purpose for what they are doing, they are going to be busier, but they are also going to feel more fulfilled at what they are doing. By having this purpose, it enriches all of the aspects of a person’s life, so even though they are busier, life just seems better. Either that or people simply enjoy working, but I doubt that’s the case…

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this edition of random ramblings by me. Thanks for reading.