Today was a meeting day. Emily, the Senior Program Officer for IREX and mom/friend away from home, encouraged us to reflect on our experiences of the past week in our host schools, the impact that it made on us as educators and people, how we may move forward as ambassadors for Fulbright and global education, and what Fulbright can do to support us.
As a part of this unpacking, we completed a gallery walk where we had our guiding question viewed by our cohort and answers given based on what they viewed at their host schools. I really appreciated this activity because I found out through informal discussions how different our experiences were. So, having people share what they witnessed about storytelling in their host schools really added more dimension to my thinking about how people approach storytelling in Colombia.
We were given many ways and much encouragement to reach out to Emily and to Fulbright to support us in projects inspired by this experience. I appreciated this discussion because support and encouragement is what many teachers lack. Even though many of us may struggle to get our schools to see the importance of global education and how it can aid in the growth and education of our students and ourselves, it is good to know that we have Fulbright and its alums and resources for support and encouragement.
What I will remember most about this day is the later that I wrote. Emily asked us to write a letter to ourselves that she will mail back to us later in the school year. I wrote a letter of congratulations, encouragement, and questions that I hope to have the answers to by the time I receive this letter. I hope that I will make enough progress to make myself proud!
