Luce Aboard March 13, 2012
Posted by Nazneen Uddin in Graduate, Luce, Malaysia.Tags: Asia, founder of time magazine, health care, henry luce, language classes, Luce fellowships, Malay, University of Michigan Medical School
add a comment
Nazneen Uddin
I opened my inbox after scrubbing out of a surgical case. I browsed through the list of unread emails, and happened to open up one from the U-M International Institute for a fellowship called Luce. The words ‘Asia,’ ‘language training,’ and ‘internship’ immediately caught my attention, enough for me to return back to the email later that evening and read the fine print. I learned that Henry Luce was the late founder of Time magazine and was born in China where he spent many years of his early life. This fellowship was created in his honor to provide young Americans with the framework to learn more about Asian society.
I never imagined taking a year off in the midst of my final year of medical school, yet alone spending it internationally. I had already taken a year off after graduating from the University of Michigan Dearborn with a B.A in history in 2007 living in the Middle East where I studied Arabic in Jordan and Egypt prior to joining medical school at the University of Michigan. I returned to Egypt in 2009 for a summer research on breast cancer during medical school, which proved to be a very rewarding experience to apply the language in the field. Therefore, learning about a different region of the world at the same time as gaining work experience was tempting.
I left the selection of which country in Asia I would spend my year to the Luce committee. Over the last seven months, I have been in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where I have had the opportunity to learn more about the health care system in various settings—state prisons, nursing homes, government hospitals, and mobile clinics. Most of my time is now spent working at an NGO which has a clinic for refugees. Outside of work, I am busy with Malay language classes, calligraphy lessons, attending health conferences, teaching English at an orphanage, and volunteering at a soup kitchen.
What makes the Luce fellowship unique is one can apply from any field and be anywhere in Asia, but each person’s focus is the same: immersing into the local culture via language training and a work placement at a locally based organization. This year’s Luce scholar class comprises 17 individuals from an array of fields ranging from microfinance to ecology to law. Scholars are situated throughout Asia, from Mongolia to India. Beyond getting to know Malaysia better, getting to know about each one of the scholars and their experiences in their respective country in Asia has been one of the greatest gifts of the program.
I am grateful to everyone at the University of Michigan, especially the International Institute for hosting the first of three rounds of interviews and providing support throughout the selection process. I hope to return from my Luce year not only improving my physical examination skills but my sensitivity and understanding of the moral and personal beliefs of my patients.
The Path to Ibarra February 15, 2012
Posted by Georgia Ennis in Ecuador, Fulbright, Undergraduate.Tags: ETA, Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, La Universidad Técnica del Norte, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, The Quito Project, university of michigan
1 comment so far
Georgia Ennis
Ibarra, the city in northern Ecuador where I live, was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1868. As my bed slowly swayed back and forth yesterday morning, I wondered—as I have during every earthquake over the last five months—if this will be the next one that topples the city. At an altitude of about 7,200 feet, settled in a valley in the Ecuadorian Andes, Ibarra is a world away from the small town in Michigan where I grew up.
I graduated in 2010 from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Anthropology, Spanish, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. As an undergraduate I volunteered at an elementary school for two summers with The Quito Project, a U-M student organization dedicated to sustainable community development in Ecuador. I also wrote my senior honors thesis about Spanish pronoun usage in Quito. When I moved here for ten months, I thought I had a passable understanding of Ecuadorian culture and the challenges I would face. In some ways I was right, but more often than not I find myself learning something new—vocabulary, customs, or norms—every day.
I am currently halfway through completing a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship at La Universidad Técnica del Norte. As the largest public university in northern Ecuador, many of the school’s roughly 6000 students travel by bus for more than an hour from communities in the surrounding countryside. I primarily work with students studying to become English teachers, although I also work in the English courses required of all students. I chose a Fulbright ETA because many parents I had met while volunteering and conducting research in Quito told me how they saw English as the key to a better future for their children; I thought of an ETA grant as a way to contribute beyond the 10 months I would work in Ecuador, as I would help train future educators. This time has also provided me with the opportunity to hone the research questions I plan to pursue as a graduate student.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
In my free time, I volunteer at a foster home for street children and children that have been removed from their families. We currently have 10 children, who range in age from 1 to 13—many have developmental disabilities or suffer from the effects of long-term neglect. I have not given up hope of finding classes in Kichwa—the most widely spoken indigenous language in my province—though this has proved fairly challenging. I am determined to take at least one language class before I leave!
As an undergraduate, U-M’s International Institute played a huge role in my education. I was awarded an II Individual Fellowship in support of my summer thesis research in Quito, a period of time that convinced me I wanted to apply for a Fulbright to Ecuador. When it came time to apply for the Fulbright, the staff of II was incredibly helpful in providing feedback on my application and guiding me through the process. I wouldn’t be where I am today—teaching in Ecuador, occasionally afraid of earthquakes and volcanoes, immersing myself in another life—without the experiences and guidance I received at U-M.
