A general undercurrent of anticipation bounces around Biola’s atmosphere in the weeks leading up to the end of the spring semester.
With more than just summer awaiting them, graduating seniors anticipate their imminent arrival into the adult world of careers and responsibilities. The big question will finally have to be addressed: what are you going to do after college?
The opportunities are endless for graduating seniors. One opportunity, the Fulbright fellowship, in particular offers an amazing experience as well as a chance to do meaningful work fresh out of college.
POST GRAD OPPORTUNITIES
Mallory Cook, an elementary education major with an emphasis in TESOL, graduated last December. Thanks to the Fulbright, Cook is now preparing to move to Malaysia where she will be teaching children English for ten months beginning this fall.
“Even as an elementary ed. major where it’s very focused on the local schools in California, I have always had this mindset of going to go teach abroad,” Cook said.
How does a young woman barely out of college afford to live in Malaysia and teach in its local schools? Cook finds herself in a position to do just that, having been awarded the Fulbright fellowship at the end of her senior year.
The Fulbright fellowship offers two main grants, said Monica Cure, an assistant Torrey Honors Institute professor and the Fulbright advisor for Biola. One is for research, while the other is for people to teach English in other countries. The grant pays for the plane ticket, housing, food, health benefits and a generous allowance.
“Both of those grants are really wonderful because you really get to be immersed in another culture, but you have a lot of resources to be able to do that well,” Cure said. “So even teaching English in another country, you’re put together with other teachers, so there’s sort of an instant opportunity to be involved in the life of a community.”
The grant is available to seniors and the application process is extensive. There is an online application and then two one-page essays to complete. After that stage, select Biola professors hold an interview to decide on whether or not to recommend that student for the scholarship.
INTERCULTURAL STUDIES
Cook originally wanted to be an intercultural studies major, but in favor of practicality settled for an elementary education degree with an emphasis that would help her realize her goals of going abroad.
“I went to India twice and I taught English in China as a mission trip, and ever since I’ve been on those trips … the Lord just grabbed my heart and was like: this is what you’re gonna do,” Cook said.
Cook’s trip is not just about the children she will be teaching, it is also about bringing together two different ways of life. Cook will be gaining as much knowledge as she will be giving.
“You’re learning about another culture but you’re also representing your own culture, and that’s what the Fulbright really is all about, is that cultural exchange,” Cure said.
Part of the application process includes a statement of grant purpose — an outline of how the recipients are planning to give back to the community — because the grant encourages cultural exchange.
“I know how to salsa dance, and I’m interested in different types of dance in general, so I said I would teach dancing to community members … kids and even open it up to adults too,” Cook said.
Teaching English overseas is such a wonderful opportunity because it gives hope for a better future to students in foreign countries, Cook said.
“There’s this really big push all around the world to learn English; to other countries it’s often seen as like, this is their one chance at success,” said Cook.
TAKE RISKS
With so many different paths to choose from, graduates might become lost in difficult decisions. Cook was skeptical about applying for the grant at first, but said that this is point in a student’s life when it is the right time to start taking risks.
“Keep your mind open to different opportunities, I think that there needs to be something that grounds you — what you know you want to do — but I think overall taking risks is part of this time in our lives,” Cook said.
