Adding to the Toolkit: The Traits One Hones as a Fulbright Scholar

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Weeks before beginning a Fulbright one is often inclined to feel as though they are fully prepared for the litany of challenges and ventures—both big and small—that will consume their daily lives for the better part of the next year. You start to imagine what life will be like in your placement city, who you will meet there, what foods you will eat, what music you will listen and dance to, among other experiences. You begin to imagine all of the other places you might visit in your host country or the surrounding region. It is a vision of a jet-setting, perhaps even donkey-riding, future filled with many elaborate and colorful Instagram posts, Facebook updates, and the like. In the days leading up to departure one is inclined to think of this imminent, once-in-a-lifetime experience through an expected though perhaps excessively self-centered lens. I was no exception.   

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And yet, almost as soon as I made my way down the steps from the plane to the tarmac in Valledupar, Colombia it really hit me. At once, I was beset on all sides by visible mountain ranges. There was the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta directly to my North and West; the tall Perija Mountains separating Colombia and Venezuela were just a few miles to the East, extending all the way to the border city of Cúcuta. The reality of arriving and making a temporary home in a new country, a new city, a new culture, with a new people was a feeling I had never before experienced.  My first night alone in Valledupar brought with it a cascade of contrasting emotions—feelings of isolation as well as openness, fear of the unknown as well as daring to try something new, confusion for how things worked as well as a deliberate posture towards the goal(s) of my mission.

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In the days that followed, my perspective on this experience began to change radically. I quickly realized and kept count of the sheer number of daily challenges the people of my city (and region in Colombia) deal with on a daily basis—challenges I cannot honestly say I have ever needed to consider as someone who grew up experiencing the vast privileges of living in a modern metropolis like New York City. Such things as access to clean water, reliable power and internet service, developed infrastructure, public transportation, dining and entertainment options, and even personal safety had all been aspects of my life that I had taken for granted. Thrust into this new reality, I had a choice: I could complain about and lament the loss of all those comforts that were suddenly out of reach, or I could learn from the ever-resilient and proud people who make up the small city of Valledupar. In keeping with the unspoken, yet virtually universal spirit of the ‘Fulbright code’ I chose the latter. I have been able to hone four key personal traits that I hope may give you, perhaps someday a Fulbrighter yourself, an idea of why this experience is so valuable:

1. In Chaos, Be Flexible—There are, on any given day, a multitude of things that may not go as I had planned. Improvisation, therefore, is key. Being in a developing country and in a more resource-limited city means needing to adapt to the different pace and ways of life here. It means considering questions like: what happens to my lesson plan if the power goes out, if the Internet crashes, if it rains, floods the streets, and causes my students to not come to class? The point is not to get flustered, but to deal with it and constantly adjust to changing circumstances;
2. In Understanding, Learn to Humble Yourself (A Lot)—How does one get to know, live amongst, and truly understand people who have had completely different life experiences as yours? Simple. Remove the “you” part of that equation. One has to be willing, at least temporarily, to allow the environment in which they find themselves in to consume them like a wave on the high seas. There must be no fear or reservation towards inhabiting the mindsets of all those with whom one comes across. Using the power of imagination, we learn to hone the craft of appreciating the perspectives of people whose experiences we do not share;
3. In Isolation, Find Your Personal Peace—Isolation, especially in this modern world, is a gift, not a burden. Being away from family, friends, and all that is familiar to you can be hard, but it is also necessary if we are to challenge ourselves in a manner that helps us grow into independent people. To do this requires going on a personal journey to find peace in isolation—whether it comes in the form of prayer, meditation, recreation, reading, writing, exercise, or other forms;
4. Mission Before Man—The mantra. When one takes on a Fulbright, one does not necessarily know where in their host country they will be placed or what awaits them once they get there. For me, beyond the resource limitations of my community, I have witnessed the consequences of a grave humanitarian catastrophe occurring just across the border with Venezuela. This has added to the challenges of my daily life and exposure to scenes of human suffering. Yet, my mantra has remained clear: the mission of teaching English, serving the community, and being a positive representation of my country is far more important to me than personal comfort. Great moments in life are born from great opportunities, and I hope to take full advantage of mine.

[[{"fid":"2482","view_mode":"rte_image_placement_center","fields":{"format":"rte_image_placement_center","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":" ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"external_url":""},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"3":{"format":"rte_image_placement_center","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":" ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"external_url":""}},"attributes":{"alt":" ","class":"media-element file-rte-image-placement-center","data-delta":"3"}}]]

[[{"fid":"2483","view_mode":"rte_image_placement_left","fields":{"format":"rte_image_placement_left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":" ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"external_url":""},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"4":{"format":"rte_image_placement_left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":" ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"external_url":""}},"attributes":{"alt":" ","class":"media-element file-rte-image-placement-left","data-delta":"4"}}]]Gabe Delaney served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at Fundación Universitaria del Areandina in Valledupar, Colombia from 2018-2019. He graduated magna cum laude from Penn in May 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science before earning a Master of Philosophy in Politics at the University of Oxford. In August 2019, he will begin pursuing his Juris Doctor degree at Yale Law School.

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