“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one HUMAN RACE”.
Kofi Annan
Cultural diversity and promotion of intercultural dialogue lie at the heart of the Fulbright program. When writing a research proposal for this highly competitive award, one is focused on research methodologies, academic outputs, previous work in the field, aims and objectives as well as the purpose of the study, etc., not really being aware of the environment (s)he will interact with if granted the scholarship. The focus is on the research. But once selected and once the program starts, the Fulbright community becomes your new family. They are the first contact at your University (so always check if a Fulbright group is active there or if there are other Fulbrighters!) and may help you with literally any issues you may have or be interested in. From "where-to-buy" through "need-a-ride?" to how-to-get-through-a-possible-cultural-shock. Very soon, a Fulbrighter becomes aware of the cultural diversity but at the same time of the unity which binds one to another due to the same mission Fulbrighters have. Fulbrighters have been selected to participate in this program "for their academic brightness" (Robin Catmur-Smith, Director of the Office of Global Engagement, University of Georgia) but also carry the torch and responsibility in the promotion of intercultural dialogue. Being a Fulbrighter means respect for the "Others", learning from each other, helping each other and enjoying it. A verbally hardly explicable feeling of belonging overwhelms you when in such a community. Any time a Fubrighter needs any kind of support, there will be another Fulbrighter to help. It is as a tacit and self implying agreement we all signed at the moment we were awarded as Fulbrighters... Almost having an urge to help, to be there for the other one... Maybe this is why Fulbright friendships are so lasting and why an urge to extend the Fulbright experience has resulted in institutionalisation of various Fulbright groups. At the #UGA, we have an informal Fulbright association now mostly depending on Fulbrighters who have stayed here for several years but, as said by Nuria (being one of those long-termers), "the survival of the association depends on you, the Fulbrighters". And I have no doubt it will continue to exist since #UGA has the largest number of Fulbright students in the USA and because Fulbrighters help, share, respect, listen and act. And we come from Colombia, Croatia, Guatemala, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, South Africa, Spain, Togo, you-name-the-country... Check some of us out at the following formal photo...
Or at this more informal one...
One of the biggest institutionalised Fulbright associations is certainly the American one, #FulbrightAssociation. It acts in state-related chapters, ours being the #FulbrightAssociationGeorgiaChapter. So, Georgia Fulbrighters, get in touch with them, because they are your extended family! They organise meetings, trips, lectures, etc., which definitely enrich your Fulbright stay in Georgia. Recently, they organized a meeting of GA Fulbrighters at the #FernbankScienceCentre in #Atlanta for us to meet, eat and greet and listen to the inspirationally titled lecture on Universe and comet collisions "The Sky is Falling". What can you expect from such a lecture in a Planetarium?
You don't know? This is why I share a glimpse of the Planetarium experience...
After that, you realize how small we are in the Universe... And that everyone smiles in the same language... Fulbright language. While not forgetting the wide community we all serve...
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