A Year in the Fulbright Life: Yousef’s Story
For the next year, Fulbright MENA will be showcasing a handful of students as they study in the United States with their new series, A Year in the Fulbright Life. Each month, spotlighted students will share an update as they continue on their Fulbright journey.
August 2022
Bags packed and ready to climb the plane, I stand right before the terminal doors bidding my mother farewell. This is the goodbye kiss. I am excited and she is hopeful. This marks the start of my journey to Madison, Wisconsin!
The Graduate Student Welcome and Orientation was an event full of energy and great vibes (and some cool gadgets 😀)! We were greeted by university personnel and introduced to all resources available to us throughout the program. The people of Wisconsin are so friendly and welcoming. It is all in red and white around me from now on, as I am now officially in the city of the Badgers. On, Wisconsin!
I have just settled in my apartment at Eagle Heights, which is minutes away from campus and the downtown area. Today, I cooked my first meal for myself. Although I miss my home country food, I went on my first grocery shopping trip to explore new spices, cheeses, and dips. I feel proud that I was not afraid to try new flavors and recipes, and the bite I took before even taking this picture is enough proof that this was a successful attempt!
Today, I started my first day of classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW Madison), where I will be part of the Fall 2022 MSc in Economics cohort. After seeing just a glimpse of what the next two years will look like, I can say that this will be a challenging experience, but an equally rewarding one!
October 2022
As the fall semester has just started, it was the best time to take a tour across Madison with my new friends in the program. I had lots of fun spending time with them touring the city, including the Wisconsin State Capitol, and enjoying the warm weather before winter arrived!
Even though my Econometrics midterm was on the weekend of Halloween, our professor was kind enough to shower us with chocolates and candy right after the test. She even made a surprise entrance with her dinosaur costume (I’m glad I took the chance to take a picture with her 😀)!
December 2022
I am finally done with my Fall semester! My friend was kind enough to invite me over for a Christmas dinner at his home. It was a true blast enjoying the holidays with his family, playing games, eating delicious food, and taking album cover pictures with his guitar collection. 😀
January 2023
It’s -23 degrees Celsius in Madison, Wisconsin, and that is just unheard of where I come from. Even though it’s extremely cold outside, the child in me could not resist having some fun in the snow.
Yousef is a 2022 Fulbrighter from Egypt. He studies Economics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Follow updates from Yousef 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 Yousef does this year!
