15 have been named Fulbright Fellows<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government, designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.<\/p>\n
At Smith, the support program for Fulbright candidates shines especially bright, having earned its reputation as one of the best in the nation with the highest success rate\u2014or ratio of winners to applicants\u2014in the past nine years among top-producing institutions, including the Ivy League universities and comparable elite colleges.<\/p>\n
During the application process, Donald Andrew, fellowships adviser in the Office of the Class Deans, and Smith faculty members work closely with candidates.<\/p>\n
According to Andrew, proper organization is a key to successfully guiding students as they navigate the Fulbright process. \u201cIt\u2019s a very intensive program,\u201d he says. \u201cThere is a lot of work involved, and each application is about 30 pages long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have streamlined systems in place, so that we can be more efficient and have more time to devote to working closely with the students\u2014to get to know them, to help them develop their projects and skills, and to understand where is the best country for them to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Farrar, that country turned out to be Malawi, where she is studying the factors that hinder transition rates for students from grammar school to high school. Among the questions she is pursuing answers for is whether furthering a child\u2019s education is perceived as impractical. For instance, are some children kept out of school because they\u2019re needed as laborers on family farms, or do parents simply assume further schooling will be too expensive?<\/p>\n
\u201cSixty-five percent of the country lives on less than $1 a day,\u201d Farrar says. \u201cEven paying $80 a semester is almost inconceivable for many people. Involving parents and community members is critical to raising the quality of education here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fulbright Fellow Katy Swartz \u201913 works as a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Sofia, Bulgaria. She teaches English to high school students at 134th SOU \u201cDimcho Debelyanov\u201d School, also known as the Hebrew School, a public school funded by various international Jewish organizations to increase awareness of Jewish cultures and customs within an open-enrollment school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a very interesting experience,\u201d Swartz says, \u201cbecause I have been able to use my major at Smith\u2014Jewish studies\u2014to learn directly about the Jewish community in this Eastern European country. I have also been involved in various co-curricular activities related to the school, such as college counseling and tutoring students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Echoing Farrar, Swartz characterizes the Fulbright application process as \u201cvery overwhelming, but worth every minute.\u201d For her, winning a Fulbright has meant a shift in life goals. \u201cMy future career plans have changed as a result of this experience,\u201d she says, \u201cand I now hope to go into international relations or perhaps work at the State Department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Swartz and Farrar credit Smith\u2019s Fulbright program with ensuring their success and have begun their fellowships inspired to achieve even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn discussing the process with Fulbrighters outside the Smith community,\u201d Farrar says, \u201cit’s very clear Smith’s internal application process is exceptional. Once accepted as a candidate, Smith\u2019s Fulbright Fast Track provides coaching, support, its own set of deadlines and clear instructions for completing a series of steps that culminate in the absolute best application possible. I have a hard copy of the final version of my application here in Malawi to serve as a reminder not only all of the hard work it took to get me here, but of the great expectations that go along with winning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI still have highlighter marks on my bed sheets,\u201d Elena Farrar \u201910 says, describing the preparation it took to land a Fulbright Fellowship. \u201cI would doze off reading articles to learn more about the country I was applying to and reviewing my essays late into the night. It\u2019s a lot of work, but you just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9717","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9717"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9762,"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9717\/revisions\/9762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smith.edu\/news-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u201cI still have highlighter marks on my bed sheets,\u201d Elena Farrar \u201910 says, describing the preparation it took to land a Fulbright Fellowship. \u201cI would doze off reading articles to learn more about the country I was applying to and reviewing my essays late into the night. It\u2019s a lot of work, but you just have to be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n