A Year in the Fulbright Life: Joy’s Story

September 2022

In September, I spent a weekend in San Diego to attend a Fulbright Enrichment Seminar and had the pleasure of meeting over 100 Fulbrighters from 37 countries. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am beyond grateful for the everlasting friendships I made.

I am also proud to announce that I passed the comprehensive exam for my thesis reading list! It felt great to see all the effort I have made this summer pay off.

November 2022

I was honored to present a paper on speculative fiction and imagining women’s liberation at the Pacific, Ancient, and Modern Languages Association (PAMLA) 2022 in Los Angeles. I also had a great time sight-seeing and visiting beaches and the downtown area.

Thanksgiving was a beautiful time, and it was a pleasure to spend it with my new friends. During my time as a student, they’ve quickly become as close as family. I was so grateful to share the holiday with them! November also means wrapping up the semester, which comes with plenty of academic work. I am currently writing two seminar papers; the first explores similarities and differences between Picasso’s paintings and T.S. Eliot’s poetry. The other explores possibilities of changing the ESL framework to enhance student’s language learning experiences.

Joy is a 2021 Fulbrighter from Jordan. She studies Literature at the University of Vermont.

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