Erin Bream - Fulbright Scholar in Colombia (July 2005 - July 2006)
Today we are kicking off our series exploring 10 different international experiences. We wanted to give you an insider perspective on how to achieve a work life balance while incorporating time abroad into your professional career.
We recently sat down with Erin Bream, a Washington state native, who took the initiative to live and travel abroad as a Fulbright Scholar after graduating from Claremont McKenna College in 2005. Shortly after graduation, Ms. Bream was accepted to the Fulbright Scholarship program where she lived and worked in Bogotá, Colombia researching small business and micro enterprise development. We explored her journey, from July 2005 – July 2006, to help you understand how being a Fulbright Scholar can take you internationally.
Going Global: What is a Fulbright Scholar?
Erin Bream: In the after math of World War II, Senator Jay William Fulbright proposed the best way to prevent a third World War was to foster cultural understanding among nations. That gave birth to the Fulbright Scholarship, a State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affair sponsored academic scholarship. The scholarship fosters cultural research and cooperation in over 155 countries, among the best and the brightest, for a period of 10 – 12 months. The application process is completely self-directed. The applicant chooses the destination country and writes a research proposal for further cultural investigation. My program was specifically for candidates that were graduating from university; however there are programs that do not require application through an educational institution.
GG: Why did you choose to do a Fulbright Scholarship?
EB: I had studied abroad in Cuba during college and had such a wonderful experience being immersed in a place that was completely different from my own. Cuba has a different language, political system, economic system and culture. When I came back from that experience, the only thing that I wanted to do was to go abroad again to another Spanish speaking country.
One of the fascinating things about Cuba was the economic change that I saw taking place. Because of some minor governmental changes, small businesses were springing up around the island. In the larger context of Cuba, this is very notable. Although I had initially chosen to go to Cuba because I was intrigued and troubled by their human rights records, when I got there the most interesting thing was the power of small business to transform people’s lives. I wanted to do a Fulbright in Cuba but there are no diplomatic relations at this time. So I looked for another Spanish speaking country that had a notable record of human rights violations that also had a history of business development. That is how I chose Colombia. Having come out of my undergrad, I wanted to continue on this global experience and explore this topic further.
GG: What was the tipping point that encouraged you to pursue a Fulbright scholarship in Colombia?
EB: It was the incredible potential opportunity that I didn’t think would be available at any other point in my life. There aren’t many times in a person’s life when you can effectively be subsidized by your own government to do anything you want to do. It was an opportunity to choose where I wanted to go to better learn a language I wanted to learn and study something that I was intensely interested in. No one was telling me what to do or how to do it. It was also fully subsidized. I also had several job offers at the time one of which I accepted one of the job offers. I was able to defer it a year; however, even if I had not been able to defer it I still would have taken the Fulbright Scholarship. I realized that jobs come and go, but scholarships like this are much out of the ordinary. It was too great of an opportunity to pass up.
GG: How did you find this opportunity?
EB: I found it through my university. I was interested in international scholarship opportunities and had heard about the Fulbright Scholarship. I took the initiative and attended an information session to learn more.
GG: How did you prepare for to be a Fulbright Scholar?
EB: Although I didn’t know it, I had been preparing for the application process throughout college career. My major was in International Relations and Economics; I had studied abroad; and kept abreast of international current affairs. It was a desire to go abroad, a strong academic record and international knowledge that prepared me for my experience. These were things that I could not have crammed for but had been building unintentionally throughout my entire college experience.
GG: What type of planning did it involve?
EB: I didn’t really know how to prepare because I had a vague idea of what I was getting into. I just did it. I didn’t know where I would live, what the food was like, what Colombian Spanish sounded like. I read a little bit about those things but I didn’t really have a full-fledged plan. I simply figured it out when I got there and everything turned out to be fine. Little preparation is ok because it usually turns out differently than you would have planned either way. That was the best take away.
GG: What were the costs associated with being a Fulbright Scholar and how much did it cost you?
EB: There was the cost of immunization, getting a visa, flights, transportation, housing, food & travel. As a Fulbright Scholar, you receive a monthly stipend from the State Department. In total it cost me approximately $500 a month to sustain myself not including extensive travel.
GG: What was your favorite part about living in Colombia?
EB: The people. It was meeting so many wonderful people and making wonderful friends that I otherwise would not have met. It sounds very cliché and it is. You travel to other places and realize that people are the same everywhere. It is a wonderful lesson not only to learn but also to internalize.
GG: What was your least favorite part about living in Colombia?
EB: My least favorite part was the challenges I faced sometimes integrating into the social groups and the culture. I wanted to go and live like a Colombian. This of course is broad, much like living like an American. There is no one kind of American or Colombian. I found that sometimes I was an outsider because I was different.
GG: What are 3 steps that you can recommend for someone who wants to pursue an international experience as a Fulbright Scholar?
EB:
- Do your research and understand the opportunities out there. Look at the Fulbright Research Program, the Fulbright Teaching Program and the Rotary Scholarship for different international experience scholarships.
- Apply. It sounds very basic but I know of quite a few people who have been intimidated by of the idea of applying, having the right qualifications, etc.
- While you are applying for the scholarship, keep pursuing as many opportunities as possible. I continued to interviewing for job opportunities just in case I was not awarded the scholarship.
For more information about the Fulbright Scholarship programs, visit http://www.fulbrightonline.org/. To learn more about the various international exchange scholarship programs, visit the Council of International Exchange of Scholarshttp://www.cies.org/.
What a cool experience! I had always heard the term Fulbright Scholar and knew it was prestigious, but never really knew what it entailed. I didn’t realize that you had to pay for your own flights, food, visas, etc. — it seems like for something like that, it should be all covered. That’s kind of a bummer. Nonetheless, that sounds like a fantastic opportunity to learn about a new culture!
@Emily – Thanks for the comment. It is such a wonderful experience. Fulbright Scholarships offer a wide range of people, regardless of age, with the opportunity to live & work abroad. There seems to have been some confusion about what costs are covered under the program. The government will pay for everything (flights & visas). Your monthly stipend is intended to cover living costs and any other incidentals. It is essentially a government subsidized international experience and the great thing is that it is never too late to try for a Fulbright Scholarship or Fellowship.
Cheers!
The Going Global Team
The Fulbright is an amazing opportunity, but I don’t think we should necessarily downplay the work or time involved. It is a prestigious grant, and depending on your country and university, application can be an intensive, months-long process.
For me, preparation involved researching the country, drafting, re-drafting, and re-re-drafting my proposal statements, getting feedback from all my mentors and advisors, obtaining references, and doing the language evaluation. For some grants, it’s also necessary to find an affiliate in your target country to essentially vouch for you and your project. That said, if you are willing to put the work into it, it can be an amazing educational, professional, and cultural experience.
@Sophia – Thanks for your comment! I absolutely agree with you. The Fulbright Scholarship program is a very prestigious and honorable program to be a part of. In our question to Erin about planning for the program, we were really trying to understand what type of mental preparation or logistics were involved for her experience in Colombia. When we had our interview, she stressed the importance of planning, researching and developing her program for Colombia. It was a very intense process that involved months of planning. As always, in any type of extended international experience, planning and research will make your experience an amazing one. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I’m really interested to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship.Do you have any idea how much is the monthly stipend and will that be enough for living expenses?
Hi!
The stipend is largely dependent on the program that you are in. The amount will always be comparable to covering your basic living expenses. If you go to the Fulbright website (http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html), you can review the stipend for each program in the specific country.
Hope that helps. Keep us posted on your Fulbright process.
Cheers!
Olga
Thanks for sharing this story. I was a Fulbright scholar in Colombia as well and can’t overemphasize the importance of the Fulbright to my career and my life in general. It’s definitely worth putting in the time and effort to apply.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment. That is the general feeling toward the Fulbright program. Glad to hear that you had the opportunity to go through the program. You are always welcome to share your experiences here if you like. Feel free to send me an email (olga [at] goinglobal [dot] com)
Cheers!
Olga