{"id":9216,"date":"2021-03-08T02:30:09","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T02:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/15\/furman-again-named-a-fulbright-program-top-producer\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:38:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:38:57","slug":"furman-again-named-a-fulbright-program-top-producer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furman-again-named-a-fulbright-program-top-producer\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman again named a Fulbright Program \u2018top producer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many students who major in political science, Brandon Tensley \u201912 imagined he would proceed to law school after graduating from Furman. But as a senior who was also studying German, he applied for and was awarded a Fulbright grant to Germany, and things changed.<\/p>\n

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Brandon Tensley \u201912 visits the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOnce I was there, I became more interested in how issues of culture and identity, particularly racial identity, play out in a German context,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The experience as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Essen, Germany, where he taught students ages 10 through 15, altered Tensley\u2019s entire career trajectory. His interest in multiculturalism and racial identity took him to Oxford, England, where he received a Master\u00a0of Philosophy in European politics and society in 2015.<\/p>\n

Now Tensley, who also served in Thailand as a Luce Scholar<\/a>, said he carries that \u201carsenal of experiences\u201d with him as a national political writer for CNN in Washington, D.C. \u201cSo even if I\u2019m not living in Germany or Thailand anymore, those experiences are always going to in some way inform the way I think about my work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Top Producer honor comes after six Furman graduates were awarded Fulbright English teaching assistantships last year.<\/p><\/div>\n

This year, Furman was again named a \u201ctop producer\u201d for the Fulbright Program<\/a>, which was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries. The largest and most diverse international educational exchange program, it is funded by an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.<\/p>\n

Top producer status is an impressive achievement. But more than another feather in the institutional cap, the real impact of the honor lies in how the Fulbright Program changes lives.<\/p>\n

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Julia Roberts \u201916\u00a0(second from left in white shawl) participates in a traditional baci ceremony outside Luang Prabang.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Fulbright Program was a chance to really challenge myself and learn to respond to really new, unfamiliar situations and to respond with resilience,\u201d said Julia Roberts \u201916, who taught English to university-level students in Laos.<\/p>\n

But far from feeling like an outsider, she also learned that she could depend on the warmth and hospitality of the people in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. She had her moments of homesickness, but those soon evaporated amid the fellowship of her students.<\/p>\n

Roberts recalls an occasion when students showed up at her door unexpectedly with a live chicken and a butcher knife. Sparing the meal prep details, Roberts said after the initial shock, she was touched by the gesture and how people tried to fold her into their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when you don\u2019t speak the same language very well, you can still come to understand one another and make meaningful memories,\u201d said Roberts, who majored in political science with a poverty studies minor. \u201cYou become more accepting, more open-minded, more willing to embrace difference \u2013 I think that\u2019s one of the most important things Fulbright does.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Buddhist novices at Vat Phou in Champasak, Laos. Photo by Julia Roberts \u201916.<\/p><\/div>\n

With her sights set on becoming a professor of anthropology, Roberts is working on her Master\u00a0of Philosophy in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge, England, via online coursework and anticipates earning her Ph.D.<\/p>\n

What excites her most is the prospect of coming full circle \u2013 teaching, \u201cdoing research that matters,\u201d and bringing study away opportunities to her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be such a dream,\u201d said Roberts, who visited 17 foreign countries during her time at Furman, including semesters in Brussels and Southern Africa, a spring break trip with the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection to Northern Ireland and a three-week May Experience (MayX) to Guatemala.<\/p>\n

Overall, when Roberts reflects on her experience in Laos and how it changed her, she\u2019s at a loss for words.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know how to begin to answer the question,\u201d said Roberts. \u201cWhen you\u2019re living abroad in such a different context, you\u2019re learning every second of the day \u2026 There are so many ways to live a human life,\u00a0and I\u2019d love to facilitate similar learning experiences for my own students one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Male

Nathan Mathai \u201917 (far left) leads Malaysian students in a tour of a university.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nathan Mathai \u201917, an accounting alumnus who was awarded a Fulbright English teaching assistantship to Malaysia, said he wasn\u2019t ready to dive into the world of CPA exams right away after graduating.<\/p>\n

During his senior year job search, he was also getting guidance and feedback on his Fulbright application from Scott Henderson, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education and director of national and international scholarships director of study away, and other advisers.<\/p>\n

Once he started the process, his advisers counseled him every step of the way toward a Fulbright bid, said Mathai, who named more than a half dozen professors who offered input on his essay and application package.<\/p>\n

\"Male

Nathan Mathai \u201917 (center) promotes his alma mater on college day.<\/p><\/div>\n

In Malaysia, he was placed as a teaching assistant for the equivalent of grades 6 through 12 \u2013 a role that gave him a crash course in \u201cextreme flexibility.\u201d He worked in the classroom and in the library and led some after-school programs. He learned to determine where he could best support teachers in their efforts to raise English test scores.<\/p>\n

Mathai said it was good to see increased passing grades at every level among students at his school in Terengganu. \u201cGetting a passing grade in English in these rural schools is hard,” he said. \u201cBut if a few kids can get that, it\u2019s a game changer in their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembered the \u201cgreat exchange\u201d he developed with students who wanted to learn English. \u201cI would tell them, \u2018I\u2019ll say a phrase in Malay, if you say one in English.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathai came away from Malaysia with a new appreciation for teachers, for lesson planning and the simple beauty of the nation. His hope is that more Furman students will seek Fulbrights or other fellowships, even after graduating.<\/p>\n

Mathai stays in touch with his Furman professors and advisers even now in his role as an educational technology consultant with Washington, D.C.-based Accenture. \u201cIt\u2019s great to come from a school where professors are invested not just in your educational journey, but also your professional journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

No doubt the Fulbright experience changes people and their worldview and even career paths. But being a top producing Fulbright institution has broader significance.<\/p>\n

\"Black

Brandon Tensley \u201912 (left) and Rob Sawyer \u201911 (right) in front of the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt shows that Furman students can successfully compete with the nation\u2019s highest achievers,\u201d said Henderson.<\/p>\n

Tensley, whose Fulbright cohort included students from much larger schools, said it\u2019s inspiring for a smaller liberal arts and sciences school to be so well-represented.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt speaks to the caliber of not just the students, but the dedication of Furman professors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Furman, my victories felt very much like victories for my professors as well. They\u2019re so fundamental to my love of German language, German culture. I was just happy to be able to represent all the work and attention they put into me and their other students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like many students who major in political science, Brandon Tensley \u201912 imagined he would proceed to law school after graduating from Furman. But as a senior who was also studying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,26,34,3,20,63,88,58,54,16,35,32,75,27,47,61,13,80],"tags":[722,723,724,725,726,176,727],"class_list":["post-9216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-administrative","category-admission","category-alumni","category-business-and-accounting","category-career-services","category-cothran-center-for-vocational-reflection","category-internships","category-may-experience","category-modern-languages-and-literature","category-parent-news","category-politics-and-international-affairs","category-pre-law","category-student-life","category-study-away-and-international-education","category-the-furman-advantage","category-top-four-news-4th-story","category-urban-studies","tag-essen-germany","tag-fulbright-program","tag-laos","tag-luang-prabang","tag-malaysia","tag-study-away","tag-terengganu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}