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By Olga Slavkina (MALD '01)
A Fulbright fellowship on your résumé is surely a plus no matter what your goals, whether a job or university admission. The Fulbright name means academic excellence, leadership potential, and, most significantly in the Fletcher worldview, the global perspective. Fulbrighters find their year abroad is a good way to learn a foreign language, make great friends, and in Hazell's words, "to understand your own country better."
The Fulbright exchange program was initiated in the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. It was named after J. William Fulbright, senator from Arkansas from 1945 to 1975. He was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1959 to 1974. Fulbright criticized U.S. military intervention abroad, opposing the Bay of Pigs invasion and the war in Vietnam. He saw cultural exchange as an alternative to wars. Since the program's inception, approximately 230,000 Fulbrighters have participated. Many of them have made significant contributions within their home countries. The Fulbright program awards approximately 4,500 grants annually to U.S. citizens going to foreign countries, and to foreign visitors at U.S. academic institutions. In some countries, Fulbright Selection Committees allow grantees to choose their academic institutions. In others, institutions are assigned, leaving grant recipients guessing until shortly before they leave for the United States. When I applied for the Fulbright, my ultimate goal was to study international relations from the U.S. perspective. Having gotten the Fulbright was my own good fortune, but having been "assigned" by the Latvian Selection Committee to Fletcher was doubly lucky. For more information about Fulbright exchanges, visit http://www.iie.org/fulbright.
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"My participation in the Fulbright
exchange program to Germany in 1997-1998 was probably the most decisive
factor for Fletcher Admissions to accept me," says Jim Alexander,
MALD '00. Paul Hazell, MALD '01, also starts the story of his Fulbright
experience by saying that a year spent in South Korea increased his
chances of getting into Fletcher. "Fletcher wants to see the proof of
students' international backgrounds. Since I had never stayed in a foreign
country for a long period of time before I went to South Korea, my
participation in the Fulbright program helped me get in." Alexander
and Hazell are just two of the approximately 20 Fletcher students who have enjoyed—or
still enjoy—Fulbright support for their studies.