Following our initiative to have U.S. Fulbright grantees meet Romanian students and academic staff outside their Romanian university, Chealin Won, Fulbright ETA Student at the University of Craiova has recently been in dialogue with first, second, and third years students from "Alexandria Ioan Cuza" University in Iași. Chealin had the opportunity to share her personal narrative of being a "Hyphenated American." With a focus on the diversity of the United States, she shared statistics regarding the most recent racial census and led discussions about national-identity with a framework of the U.S. as an immigrant country. Chealin and the Romanian students then engaged in an open dialogue regarding Romanian identity in regards to the Roma population, what it means to be Romanian, what it means to be Roma, and what it means to live as citizens in a global world with documentation—recognizing the privileges that come from a piece of plastic of a small booklet.

 

On Thursday, March 14, undergraduate and graduate students at two major universities in Bucharest had the opportunity to attend two presentations dedicated to the Fulbright Student competition for awards in the academic year 2019-2020 and to also find out more about U.S. graduate study opportunities. The first event took place at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, on the premises of The Faculty of Power Engineering. Another Fulbright presentation followed the same day, hosted by the Center for American Studies within the University of Bucharest. The participants received information about the path to studying in the U.S., either through applying for a Fulbright Student Award or through independently approaching U.S. universities. They also learned more about the Fulbright Commission’s activities, such as informative gatherings, online seminars and workshops, as well as about the resources available at our advising center, FEAC-EducationUSA.

As an attendee of the Fulbright enrichment seminary on Global Health Initiatives, I had the privilege to listen to the impressive William Foege, the American epidemiologist that played a major role in the campaign leading to the eradication of small-pox. An amazing story teller, Dr. Foege publicly answered a question his 13 year old grand-daughter had asked him:

“If you died tomorrow, what is it you wish you could have told me?”

1. Pay attention to the people around you, be mindful, be respectful. Across your career, many people will approach you with their problems and proposals, be ready to show respect by listening to all of them.

2. Avoid certainty, the Achille’s heel of science and progress. Be ready to question both yourself and others.

3. Continue to learn, as opposite to being learnt, because the science of the learnt quickly becomes outdated.

4. Seek the truth, but know the limits of science – always practice science with a moral compass.

5. Home is not where you are from, home is where you are needed.

The 2018 edition of the U.S. Alumni Fair will take place at the “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, on Wednesday, March 21, from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest and the EducationUSA network. The fair is included among the events marking the 25th anniversary of the Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission.

This edition of the U.S. Alumni Fair will bring together 25 participants – mainly members of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest and U.S. Fulbright grantees currently in Romania – as representatives of their alma maters, keen to share their personal experience and their insight into the U.S. higher education system with Romanians interested in studying in the U.S.

Boston University, Brandeis University, Duke University, Florida International University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Indiana University Bloomington, Lake Forest College, McDaniel College, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Rhode Island School of Design, San Francisco State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, The City University of New York (CUNY), Trinity College, University of Iowa, University of South Florida, University of Tennessee Knoxville, University of Texas at Austin, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wayne State University