Name: Grace Evans
Majors and minors while at UNL: French, Global Studies, Political Science with minors in Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
On and off campus involvement: Lincoln Literacy Council, Phi Beta Kappa, ASUN, page at state capitol
Where are you currently located and describe your current duties as a Fulbright ETA.
I'm located in Rabat, Morocco, at a specialized university called IAV Hassan II. I'm a standalone professor in classes of ~35 students, teaching a variety of English language and culture courses. I teach 10 hours per week, and will start volunteering with immigrant youths attempting to make the passage to Europe. I also hope to start working at a women's literacy organization in the future. They give us a generous stipend to study language, and I'll be learning MSA and Moroccan Arabic (Darija) with a tutor.
Why did you apply for Fulbright?
I had wanted to apply for Fulbright since my freshman year because it's an opportunity to live abroad for a year, but has a lot more benefits than most other programs. The monthly stipend is generous and allows me to travel, study languages, live comfortably, and visit my fellow Fulbrighters all over Morocco. The application process is a lot more grueling than something such as TAPIF—but that might have been because I wanted it so badly. Honestly, my application process began freshman year when I decided to volunteer at Lincoln Literacy Council.
I chose Morocco for a number of reasons. I've been studying French for a long time and have lived in France. After having studied post-colonial African literature (and had many immigrant students in my Montpellier classes) I realized to understand the francophone world, you can't rule out all of the countries it controlled for so long. I considered studying Wolof and applying for Senegal, and looked into several other west African countries, but had better opportunities to study Arabic and the Middle East so Morocco became a better choice.
Experience as a Fulbright Scholar:
My experience thus far has been wonderful. MACECE is a positive community that's supportive and encouraging. I feel as if I can ask anyone for help and they would be glad to. Teaching is nerve-wracking because some of my students are actually older than me, and most of my colleagues have graduate degrees. But it's all a learning experience—whether is language, culture, working at a foreign university, my new friends, my students—everything and everyone is teaching me something new. I can't wait to look back a year from now and see how I've progressed.
Advice for current global studies majors:
Start thinking about it early: I didn't choose my country or start my application until September, which I DON'T recommend doing. Make an appointment with Dr. Damuth spring of your junior year and just talk freely about who you are, the languages you speak, and what you're interested in. Something a lot of people won't tell you is to actually look at the placement of your grant. A huge reason I chose Morocco is that I would be teaching at a university. Many positions are with primary school kids, others with secondary. Think about if you're comfortable teaching alone in a classroom or if you'd rather just be an assistant. Ultimately, the ETA position isn't just about traveling and learning, but you need to be confident in your ability to actually teach. Otherwise it could be more pragmatic to apply as a student researcher.