The First Virtual Encounter

Today was the point that my overwhelming fear and nervousness about pursuing the Fulbright switched to the giddy excitement. A large part of applying for the Fulbright is the wondering of “will I actually get it?” as you wait for the answer. For me, I wondered this question to the point that I actually began to ask myself- am I more worried about not winning it or the crazy shift in life if I do receive it? I was told by someone that I couldn’t be excited for more than five minutes about this subject. He said that I worried so much about winning it that once I did win it I moved on to worrying about logistics. Although I saw the truth in this, I couldn’t help but being nervous about the whole adventure.

One of the largest advantages that I have for traveling to Brazil is my support system I already have set up in Brazil. Ironically enough, while I was studying abroad in New Zealand I befriended a few Brazilian University students- Mario and Tiê. Just the fact that I know people in this foreign country is a huge relief as I think about living abroad for nine months. The fact that they are both kind souls and educating me on the art of the Brazilian life style helps me even more so in relaxing throughout this process.

The straw that broke the camel’s back, in a positive way, was a skype call tonight. I’m lucky enough to be assigned a mentor ETA (English Teaching Assistantship) who is kind, helpful, and wonderful to aiding us in the process. Ashley organized a skype call with nine of us ETAs who will be in the state of Paraná for our placement, and I finally put faces to the names of fellow Fulbrighters. It’s funny that a false notion I had about receiving the Fulbright is that only Ivy League students win these fellowships, which I learned through the virtual skype introduction is completely wrong! Although there were two large name schools out of the eight of us, there was also a mix of schools that I had never heard of. Just within our small group we created a mixture of Nebraska, Colorado, California, Maine, New Jersey, and Georgia residents.

I’m a very goal oriented person, and any of my prior professors can tell you that I frequented their office hours probably more than they ever hoped to see a student. Thus, I’ve looked at this preparation process as a to-do of items to achieve. Today though, hearing the hesitancy of other Fulbrighters, and being reassured that they are at the same stage I am, made me feel a lot better. Not that misery loves company, as it normally goes, but confused recent college alumni preparing for ¾ of a year abroad take comfort in other’s confusion too.

Getting clarity on simple things, such as- air fare, baggage, orientation, housing, professional wear, classroom activities, responsibilities, and vaccinations, eased my crazed mind. Here’s hoping that this week I make it to the consulate, as I plan to do in the next few days, and that they approve me a visa easily!