Path two: Scholarships/Grants

Scholarship and grant are two words that I love to hear. These are are monetary awards given to students base don academic or other achievement. Not very much to my surprise, there are scholarships and grants out there that fully fund being an English Teaching Assistant abroad. The one I've researched and will be applying for in Fall 2017 is the prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Award.

The Fulbright ETA offers locations around the world: East Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East & North Africa, South & Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. Thus, the applicants come from all over the nation, and it is highly competitive.

For example, there are 80 grants offered each year to Korea. In 2016, there were 313 applicants; meaning only about 25% won a grant. These are pretty good chances, compared to countries that have less than 10 grants available.

Regardless, I've been highly encouraged to apply for this scholarship because of how well-known it is, being a semi-finalist or finalist is an accomplishment in itself, my Fellowship Advisor insists.

The requirements for the ETA are

• A bachelor's degree before start of grant
• 1 pg. statement of grant purpose
• 1 pg. personal statement
• 3 references
• make a 2-year commitment before returning to the U.S.

You and I will definitely need some soul-searching and supportive staff to make accomplishing these requirements possible. Though the website does not outline it, there are interviews involved further in the application process.

The benefits of the Fulbright, other than being highly prestigious, include: no application fee, fully funded from transportation, room, and board, and health benefits.

After researching more about the Fulbright, I found past winners acknowledging that the biggest downside is the 2-year commitment, saying it is too long of a time and there has never been an exception made. Another disadvantage described was that after being accepted, Fulbright is completely in charge of the placements, meaning you cannot request a specific school or university (which can also be a pro).

I'll be honest, I am quite daunted to apply to this scholarship, but I have nothing to lose. It will help ground my purpose and motivation to teach abroad and maybe get me there.