Fulbright Scholarship: Personal Statement

PERSONAL STATEMENT
Amanda Fxxxxxxxx, Bangladesh, Anthropology

I remember sitting in the middle of St. Anthony’s Basilica in Padua, Italy. Looking up at the blue and gold ceiling with ancient celestial images, I was humbled to tears because I understood that this world was so much bigger than I am.

Italy was my first step outside of my isolated world. My Catholic family on Long Island, New York felt like a cage, restricting my self-expression and self-awareness. Throughout my high school education, I drove myself into academic activities and challenges to stimulate my mind. College in bustling New York City was a big step to self discovery, and studying anthropology opened my local world to the global – yet I was yearning for more. I spent four years furiously running abroad to decorate my life with exotic travels, only to discover – I am the only one who restricts my own growth. Traveling had opened me to not only the world’s possibilities, but my own. Once I began to appreciate both my roots and wings, I valued my home on Long Island and discovered parts of me I had tried to ignore.

I never understood my innate drive for learning until I began working abroad. Teaching in the slums of Peru in June 2006, I began my journey of global awareness. Studying with Semester at Sea, a multicountry travel program, was the best intellectual experience a young student could ask for. Professors gave academic instruction in classrooms then sent us into foreign countries to explore and solidify our learning. After getting a small taste of the world, I returned home to commit my social consciousness to civic engagement. But I felt that something was missing.

I studied abroad in Kolkata, India in Spring 2008 and worked in a shelter for girls who have been sexually abused. It was here where I learned my role: paagli didi. In Bengali, it translates to ‘crazy older sister,’ and was the nickname given to me by my students in the shelter I worked in. Originally meant as a tease, I did not comprehend the gravity of this phrase’s precision. Its meaning has left such an indelible impression on me that these words, in Bengali, are tattooed on my wrist. Every day I saw the pain of these girls, struggling to overcome their violent past. And every day, I saw their endless ability to continue to dance, to smile, and to love. It was here, at the feet of my Bengali sisters, that I discovered my role as paagli didi. With the concern and wisdom of an older sister, I needed to share my instinctive energy and compassion, and in turn, learn from others. Big sisters learn from their siblings as much as she teaches them.

Even though my little sisters are far away, I continued my big sister role in New York by working with new institutions to create solid change. Advocating for the AIDS organization Keep a Child Alive reminds me of how I can use my intellect and charm to spread awareness. I’ve learned of the importance of public citizenship in creating non-discrimination laws and policies by working at the New York Immigration Coalition.

I plan to focus my graduate studies on social and public policy to best continue my advocacy work in the human rights field. I know I will create positive change in this harsh world. But who I am, my self – it is a journey with no ending. I’m taking the ultimate challenge, because it’s not about the end, it’s about the means. The Fulbright Scholarship is the opportunity for me to take an enormous leap on this journey.