Thursday, July 3, 2008

paying for it

last year i met with the scholarship adviser at my university to discuss possible grants. basically, there is the fulbright, which i was told i would definitely not get because i am thai-american, and they are all about leaps and bounds, yadda yadda. however, i was offered hong kong as an option. this made me really upset and seriously discouraged the thought of moving abroad to get in touch with my roots. ok, i get the whole deal with me having family over there, but i feel like there is a strong misunderstanding about assimilation and western influence on the global world that the fulbright needs to/does not acknowledge (anyway, i hope to stifle the anger i feel about this into a thesis). whatever.

ok, so other options....

the blakemore freedom fellowship
pros:
*this grant is for applicants who plan on participating in an intensive language program in asia. exactly what i want to do!
*grant covers: airfare, insurance, transportation within country, visa application fees, tuition, books, etc.
*criteria includes some type of connection/former relationship in country of study.

cons:
*must prove an advance level in the study language, and i cannot even read my name in thai! plus, my conversational thai is lacking due to a serious aversion to speaking to my parents.
*i am thai-american, so they will probably shaft me like fulbright.

NSEP Boren Graduate Fellowships
pros: covers expenses with a max of $30,000 USD per year.

cons: applicants can apply for any country other than western europe, canada, australia, and new zealand. very broad = lots of applicants!

Fulbright + mtvU
pros: i know i just wrote some smack about fulbright, but they this fairly liberal grant for any country of study already participating in the fulbright. what what?!

cons: will still reject me for reasons of leaps and bounds.

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