Meeting up with a fellow Fulbrighter

Here I (a 2008 Fulbright in Malaysia) am with Colleen (a 2010-2011 Fulbright) in a KL coffee shop. We last met in NYC after she had heard that she had received a Fulbright. An important story to tell is how different generations of Fulbright alumni to Malaysia help each other - often contacts are initiated with a cold call. When I was applying I contacted an alumnus in Illinois and another in Florida. The man in Illinois called me and encouraged me to apply. His call provided just the push I needed to tackle the application. The woman from Florida provided helpful teaching tips.

I first heard from Colleen when she sent me an e-mail asking if I would read and comment on her proposal. Later I put her in touch with an alumnus who could address family issues. In turn I recently passed on to Colleen an inquiry about opportunities for psychologists. The message to prospective Fulbright applicants - if you have a question or concern ask an alumnus!

Colleen and I had different experiences and research interests. She is a psychologist who was accompanied by her husband and three young children. She taught at a private university and lived in a KL high rise. Read her blog at http://oneal-freemansinmalaysia.blogspot.com/ to learn how much Malaysia and Asia can offer a family.  On the other hand I came alone, lived in a campus guest house in Penang, and taught at a public university. To learn more you can visit my blog at fulbrightmalaysia.blogspot.com. (As I recall it was a diary of meals, pretty typical of anyone visiting Malaysia.) Kiddos to Colleen who won the Fulbright Young Leaders award which will give her $$$ to continue her research on refugee children in Malaysia. A well deserved recognition of the effort she put into accessing refugee schools and teachers, implementing an intervention, developing the research skills of her students, and producing quality research from Malaysia.

My research was on collaborations among Malaysian NGOs. I tested a scale to capture the dimensions of collaboration. I hope to pick up the work and conduct a qualitative study. In the meantime my 2008 Malalysian contacts have made our transition to Malaysia easy.