January was the coldest month by far in Madison. Truly, it was freezing. For the first time, I had to wear all my snow gear (including my face mask!). Yet, I seem to find the weather exciting! In the winter break I decided to refocus on my research assistantship and…

I wanted to engage in more campus activities during my second semester at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I so decided to join the swim club. This was an opportunity for me to stay physically active and to expand my circle of friends. In my home country, Algeria…

During my first semester at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, I was invited to attend the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) held in New York City. The summit focused on enabling efforts to tackle the world’s most challenging problems and achieving a sustainable future through business. I had a unique opportunity to network with numerous business leaders, executives, and researchers from the world’s leading universities. But most notably, I had the chance to meet the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, a member of the Fulbright Association and once an intern at the office of Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright, the founder of the Fulbright Program!

I could not have thought of a better way to start and end the last month of 2022 than to put a tiny Christmas tree next to the Lebanese flag in my bedroom to remind me of a small piece of home. In Madison, WI, I experienced art in three…

For the New Year’s holiday, I traveled to Colorado where I had the pleasure of meeting two fellow Egyptian Fulbrighters as well as another Egyptian scholar from Arizona State University. This is in addition to lots of other people of different nationalities that I had the chance to meet on…

In addition to my studies, I’ve been enjoying dancing while on my Fulbright Program. Not only did I prepare a PowerPoint presentation to talk about the numerous types of Armenian dances and performa solo dance, but I also taught the class about my hometown’s traditional folk dance! I was so happy to share my culture, and we all enjoyed learning and dancing together. Follow updates from Silva and other Fulbright students on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Check back here every month for more updates on the blog and Medium Series to see what Silva does this year!

While spending vacation time with friends in Boston, I had the chance to visit MIT, Harvard University, and the different science and art museums there. This allowed me to learn more about the city’s history and to experience new things like touching a rock from space (a meteorite) and seeing…

In early October, I had the chance to visit the Thousand Islands and Boldt Castle, located along the peaceful border between northern New York and Ontario, Canada. …

I decided to escape the East Coast cold & spend it in San Francisco, California. I enjoyed exploring the city and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. I visited Silicon Valley, the world’s technology hub, Chinatown, Little Italy, and Santa Cruz, I then spent New Year’s and Christmas time with my relatives. One of my favorite experiences from the holidays was driving through the most crooked street in the world, Lombard Street.