{"id":2341,"date":"2018-01-21T09:54:47","date_gmt":"2018-01-21T09:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/?p=2341"},"modified":"2018-01-24T22:06:08","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T22:06:08","slug":"whats_it_like_country_rep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/whats_it_like_country_rep\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s it like to be a Fulbridge Country Representative?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Curious what it’s like to be a part of Fulbridge as a Country Representative? Our current Reps share their experiences, what motivated them to get involved, and what they’ve liked about spreading the Fulbridge project in their host country.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Robyn Kincaide<\/h2>\n

Korea Country Representative (2015-2017) & Lesson Catalog Coordinator (2017-2018)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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My primary role with Fulbridge has been maintaining the lesson planning database and making blog posts for the Lesson of the Week and Lesson Resource of the Month. I have really enjoyed this role, as it allows me to dig through teaching materials from ETAs around the world and shamelessly pluck out elements that I like for teaching my own classes.<\/p>\n

While simply using the Fulbridge website can really enhance your experience as an ETA, becoming a part of the Fulbridge team helps you to forge even closer connections with ETAs in different parts of the world and strengthen your teaching skills by offering you a more in-depth look at what other ETAs have been doing inside and outside of the classroom.<\/p>\n

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Sinia Amanonce<\/h2>\n

Czech Republic Country Representative 2016-2017<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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During the academic year of 2016-2017, I attended the Fulbright Conference in Berlin, Germany.\u00a0 In that short week, I had the pleasure of meeting ETAs from all\u00a0over Europe.\u00a0 While everyone had varying experiences, many of us shared the same struggles of adjusting to a new community, culture, and country.\u00a0 As we sat around for dinner, one of the ETAs from Spain told me about Fulbridge and its mission to create a more interconnected Fulbright community.\u00a0 I went online and was so excited to see how much Fulbridge has already done and I knew I wanted to help in any way that I can.<\/p>\n

Fulbridge has so much to offer!\u00a0 It allows you to connect with ETAs all around the globe and equips you with endless resources for your classrooms. As the site continues to grow, I hope more people come forward and volunteer to be Country Representatives.\u00a0I contribute to the Lesson Catalogue and help organize the Lesson Database, and we found that there were several lessons that would suit students in specific countries.\u00a0 Ideally, every country that Fulbright serves could have the same focus on their students.<\/p>\n

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Sojourner White<\/h2>\n

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Spain Country Representative, 2016-2017<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I chose to be a Country Representative to help other Fulbrighters and connect\u00a0with them around the world. I also wanted to help other Fulbrighters with their lessons, because I know it was a struggle for me.<\/p>\n

As a Country Representative, I got to submit lessons I did with my classes. I also interviewed Fulbrighters in other countries about their experiences and connected Fulbridge with my own commission in Spain. My favorite aspect was building connections between Fulbrighters, Fulbridge and Fulbright Spain. The only way we can build a stronger community is through collaboration, so I was happy to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

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Mary Nagel<\/h2>\n

Brazil Country Representative, 2017-2018<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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As the Brazil Country Rep, I’ve particularly enjoyed interviewing my fellow ETAs for the ETA Spotlights and look forward to working with my fellow Country Reps to promote global educational\u00a0initiatives\u00a0through our Fulbright networks. We have the opportunity to bring a unique light to educational issues or success stories around the world and therefore I encourage you all to write — write to share, complain, or explore but don’t ever stop sharing your Fulbright experiences.<\/p>\n

An essential aspect of growth is buy-in from Fulbright Commission’s and\/or US embassies to shift mentality, from day one, to encourage ETAs to think of themselves as part of a global Fulbright network; not limited to your country cohort as it is today. Fulbridge serves as a unique digital network of like-minded individuals around the world who are missioned to use the power of digital to link our Fulbright experiences. (++ who wouldn’t want to have couches to crash on all over the world?)<\/p>\n

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Ayat\u00a0Abourashed<\/h2>\n

Indonesia Country Representative, 2015-2016<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Our grant year was really focused on community engagement, but I also wanted to be more involved in Fulbright as a whole. Becoming a Country Representative allowed me to also have that global engagement I was craving. It’s a great way to meet new people, share ideas on lesson planning and bringing not only Fulbrighters together but the students they teach in other classrooms abroad. I\u2019ve loved getting inspiration from the Fulbridge team and website.<\/p>\n

As a Country Representative, I\u2019ve been able to connect with ETAs all over, current and alumni. I acted as a liaison to start the collaborations between Indonesiaful and Fulbridge. I also began the Fulbridge Instagram page. I think my favorite aspect has been finding current and alumni Fulbrighters for the blog spotlights.<\/p>\n

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Lindsay Mickles<\/h2>\n

Bulgaria Country Representative & Blog Editor-in-Chief, 2017-2018<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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I applied to be a Country Rep and the Blog\u00a0Editor-in-Chief because I was passionate about the Fulbridge.org mission and I was looking for a way to give back to the Fulbright community.<\/p>\n

I am the first Country Rep for Bulgaria, so my main goal has been to spread the word about the Fulbridge mission and to get as many of my fellow ETAs involved in the project. My favorite part, so far, has been seeing three very talented ETAs take part in the Fulbridge Photo Contest.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping that as Fulbridge grows, the role of the Country Rep will become even more dynamic. I can see the Country Rep regularly working with Fulbright Commissions on mini-ETA exchanges, organizing regional meetups, and becoming even more invaluable than they already are.<\/p>\n

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Noah Baker\"\"<\/h2>\n

Taiwan Country Representative, 2014-2015<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I helped spread the word about Fulbridge to other in-country ETAs and coordinate with our in-country Fulbright staff.\u00a0\u00a0In addition, I helped find the next country rep. To be honest, my favorite part was working with other members of the Fulbridge team.<\/p>\n

Fulbridge is a great idea both professionally and personally.\u00a0 In the classroom, Fulbridge can help you find pen pals for your students and help you discover lesson ideas for TEFL classrooms.\u00a0 \u00a0Outside of the classroom, Fulbridge can help you meet up with other ETAs when you travel.\u00a0 In addition, it is wonderful to work with ETAs from other countries and to hear what their experiences are like.<\/p>\n

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Chris Hoffman<\/h2>\n

Korea Country Representative, 2015-16<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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I wanted to become a Country Representative at Fulbridge because I wanted to work towards bridging the Fulbright community. I’ve met some fantastic Fulbright grantees doing amazing work all over the globe. I see all of our work as connected. We each aim to build connections and mutual understanding, feed curiosity and creativity, and work towards a better, collaborative future. I really enjoyed getting to know other Fulbright grantees across the world. I think Fulbridge’s work is essential in bringing together people from a mosaic of backgrounds, sharing stories, cultivating creativity, and working towards peace.\u00a0 I’m excited to see more collective projects with Fulbridge Country Reps working together towards issues of social justice. I’m forever grateful to Fulbridge and Fulbright in welcoming me into a diverse, dynamic, creative and fun network of people working\u00a0at making a positive difference. I look forward to seeing future Fulbridge projects and the community continues to grow!<\/p>\n

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Lizzy Harvey<\/h2>\n

Argentina Country Representative, 2017\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I felt very isolated at the very beginning of my grant. When I found out about Fulbridge, it seemed like an excellent way to build connections and supply resources for future Fulbrighters so that they wouldn’t have to feel the same way I did. To make that successful, though, I knew Fulbridge would need to grow in its reach of countries, and I really wanted to help build a presence for it in Latin America.<\/div>\n

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One of the most remarkable things about Fulbright is that grantees are sent to so many different places around the world… and yet we almost never get to interact with our counterparts in other countries. The aim of Fulbright is to “increase mutual understanding,” and I think that becomes so much more powerful when Fulbrighters living in different countries around the world are also able to exchange experiences with each other. I think that if the country rep is able to pass down some insider knowledge of their country each year, they can become a sort of point person for the other Fulbrighters in the country who may be struggling with different challenges in their placement.<\/div>\n
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Interested in becoming a Country Representative? Click here<\/a> to learn more!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curious what it’s like to be a part of Fulbridge as a Country Representative? Our current Reps share their experiences, what motivated them to get involved, and what they’ve liked about spreading the Fulbridge project in their host country. Robyn Kincaide Korea Country Representative (2015-2017) & Lesson Catalog Coordinator (2017-2018)… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[261],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Chris.jpg?fit=2048%2C1539&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2341"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341\/revisions\/2516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fulbridge.org\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}