My Fulbright Experience

It was three o’clock in the middle of a workday, my phone gave out the usual “you’ve got mail” tone, and as I looked at it I knew I had received the single most important email of my life.

It was almost a year ago when I received the news that I had been selected as one of 12 Fulbright applicants to represent Jordan. That day I rushed home to tell my parents. They were thrilled. That week we ate a lot of “Knafeh” (traditional sweets) in celebration. As the celebrations of getting a full scholarship from the most prestigious award toned down, nervousness set in. I was going to leave my room, my house, my parents, my job and my friends and head out to start from scratch.

It was not easy: the few months leading to my departure to Atlanta were hectic and packing your life in a suit case proved tricky, which was even trickier with baggage weight limits. But all that stress soon dissolved as the experience of being a Fulbrighter proved to be a once in a lifetime chance to study, travel and learn about new cultures. In addition to the valuable education I got in the classroom, the education I received through cultural and social activities is priceless.

Being part of Georgia Tech and the Fulbright Association Georgia Chapter, I participated in many activities. I visited a cowboy ranch, attended a season of American football games, danced in an Indian Garba, and had meals from all over the world. I met fellow Fulbrighters from countries across the globe, and they were often the first person I had ever met from that country. But while I was enjoying that I realized that a Fulbrighter’s mission is to introduce their culture to other cultures as well. I spent a lot of time answering questions from my American, European, South American and Asian friends about our magnificent culture, and about my faith (Islam). It was truly rewarding to shatter stereotypes some of my friends had. I felt privileged to be able to reflect the beauty of my culture and religion to them.

Life hands a person only a handful of opportunities in their lifetime. The opportunity Fulbright gave me was a portal to learning and exploration. Everything that happened after three o’clock that day was part of my adventure, one that is just beginning.

Yasmine R. El Gharaibeh is a Jordanian Fulbrighter pursuing an MA in Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology.

My Academic Training Experience

The Fulbright scholarship was a life changing experience for me, from the academic angle, to the personal angle, leading to a long-lasting career. Many students talk about their academic experience, and while this was amazing for me, I will tell you more about how my training guided me to start my own business and to embark on the path I had envisaged for myself. 

I applied for a Fulbright scholarship so I would be able to one day start my own business. I have always wanted to own a restaurant and to use food as a vehicle to bring people together and bridge gaps between cultures. Since America is the land of opportunities and San Francisco in particular is known for its business innovations and start-ups, I used my last semester to research business entrepreneurship in the Bay Area. I came across a new law that was passed in January 2013 called the California Homemade Food Act. This act allows individuals to legally apply for a license to cook and prepare 'low risk foods' for public consumption. The timing of this law was perfect for me, as I was almost done with my MBA and preparing to follow my childhood dream, I could not think of a better way to take all that academic knowledge and put it in practice. I also wanted the opportunity to test my business concept and run a 'pilot test' before embarking on the bigger mission of opening a full-fledged restaurant. So, I collected all information possible from my research, filled the necessary application forms and headed to the San Francisco City Hall to register my business and get my seller’s permit.

That was in November 2013, in parallel to my internship. I can only say that the satisfaction I get from my business is more than any job I have ever held, I get to practice the full chain of running a business from financial management, to supplier management, production, marketing, advertisement, selling via direct consumer interaction and customer feedback. My business broke even in February 2014; I cannot wait to gather all the learnings from this experience to share with my friends, family and possibly future employees when I open my restaurant in UAE . The only way is up from here.

Awatif Yahya is a Fulbrighter from the U.A.E. who completed her MBA program at Golden Gate University.Her business is called Moyoni, San Francisco Baking.

International Festival 2013 and 2014 at Florida Institute of Technology

The International Festival at Florida institute of Technology is held every year in February. International students from all over the world represent their countries by wearing their own traditional clothes, serving food they usually eat in their home country, performing their own traditional dances, making presentation about their history and so on.

During my Fulbright journey I had the chance to participate in this festival twice (in 2013 and 2014) and represent my home country Iraq. I have to say it really gave me pleasure to do that, as we were a group of Iraqi students who worked together to prepare for this festival. American and non-American people were coming to our tent at the festival to see what we presented, and I believe the pictures say it all!

Iraqi traditional sweets - there were signs in front of each one to explain what the sweets were and free samples were given to the visitors. 

Iraqi flags and flowers were all are handmade and given to the visitors as a gift from the Iraqi students.

Part of the PowerPoint presentation. 

Me at our tent!









Rasha Al-Obaydi is an Iraqi Fulbrighter pursuing an M.S. in Civil Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology.