STEP 1: Have a high tolerance for the word “No.”
You didn’t get into the program. You got into the program but didn’t get funding. Your sister’s graduating from high school during the same time as the program. (Yes, you have to go.) The point is, were you able to go to China as an undergraduate student? No.
STEP 2: Have a breakthrough.
Believe that you’ve run into another concrete wall in graduate school after many dead trails. Not to mention that the international programs coordinator who wraps up your session by saying summer internships at Chinese universities for American graduate students are scarce... but then she remembers her friend working at that university in Shanghai... and what department are you in again?... and yeah, she’s an alumna of your program. Email alumna. Stare at your computer screen in awe when aforementioned alumna says she’ll be in the U.S., and yes, at your campus next week doing student recruiting.
STEP 3: Get a summer internship at a Chinese university as an American graduate student
Four months later, said alumna’s boss emails to say she’s heard great things and that there’s never been a summer intern—what would you like to do? Alumna’s boss schedules a Skype date with you. Discuss this freshly created job role. Accept your role. You are now the International Programs Intern for the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute. Now that you’re an
intern, create a research project. Get IRB approval. Now you’re an American graduate student interning and doing research at a Chinese university.
STEP 4: Live in China
Enjoy red bean paste pastries in the morning and spicy eggplant in the evening time. Take a bike ride with your new Chinese friend around campus. Run your focus group sessions and diversify the times because you’re flexible. Start writing your findings, because it’ll save time in the end. Manage social media, write newsletters and website articles for the Joint Institute. Edit everything from recruitment brochures to the online application. Who said that Creative Writing B.A. wasn’t going to be put to good use?!
Teach a team building workshop for professors. Plan excursions for the international students. Translate documents and phone calls, and try to get involved in everything international student-related. Insist that everyone speak in Mandarin with you unless, of course, they’d like to practice their English—what better opportunity,right? Climb the Great Wall of China. Get to the top, look out into the distance. Pause for pictures. Stop for video. Stare and stare and stare out into the distance. You’re in China. You even find a Bible study after thinking you’d be on your spiritual journey alone for those 3 months. Try acupuncture for the heck of it.
You even meet up with high school and college friends in China. How is it that you all ended up here at the same time?! Because you’re in the right place at the right time. Because it wasn’t meant to be before, and it was certainly destined to be in the here and now. You’ve gained a unique professional experience created just for you. And you’ve realized that international education is a mainstay in your future career. That you’re indeed still interested in student transitioning, mentoring, and pipeline programs.
STEP 5: Return to the U.S. and Reflect
You’ve learned just how resilient you are in the face of challenges. You understand much more about the world and its people. It’s a time of extraordinary growth, and for that you’re grateful. Because you were in China. A higher education administrator in China. A researcher in China. And you would hit a million more brick walls to have the experience that you had in summer 2013. And with this behind you, it’s clear that your professional preparation can only get stronger, and the experiences will only be more layered and impactful. So with that in mind, you go forth building upon this momentum knowing that
your best years for these type of experiences are just beginning—the best is yet to come.
About the Author:
Kelicia Hollis is Detroit-born, Arkansas-raised writer,
speaker and educator. She completed her B.A. in Creative Writing from Columbia
University, her M.A. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan.
Hollis, a 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholar, is currently President and CEO of
Polyglot International Ventures Inc. in Little Rock, a foreign language
services firm. Learn more at www.polyglotnation.com,
and connect with her at www.keliciahollis.com.
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Interested in a graduate study abroad?
For more information about the Fulbright Grant Opportunities and how to apply, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright/fulbright-programs
For more opportunities for funded graduate study & research abroad, check out this article from Diversity Abroad: http://www.diversityabroad.com/guides/study-and-research-fellowships/study-and-research-fellowships
