Fulbright interviews

Today at the local Fulbright offices, I joined in on interviews of eight finalists for Slovak student Fulbrights to study in the United States. Another Fulbright lecturer, a representative of the U.S. embassy, and two of the Slovak Fulbright Commission staff participated in the interviews.

I finally got a good picture of the entire Slovak Fulbright Commission staff. From left to right: Mária Paniaková, Program and Student Advisor; Viera Zimová, the Finance Officer; and Nora Hložeková, the Executive Director. I am quite sure I speak for all the U.S. Fulbrighters in being extremely grateful for their dedicated, energetic, and conscientious help to all of us in making our stay in Slovakia so worthwhile and pleasant.

It was a fascinating comparison for me with interview teams on which I participated last spring at CSU Long Beach of students who had applied for various study abroad programs. In both settings, we looked for appropriate language skills, whether they had thought through good reasons for wanting to study abroad, and how the experiences would benefit their long-term educational and career goals.

I cannot divulge any information about today’s candidates, of course. Originally 16 students had applied for the four slots, and today we had to further winnow the field from eight to four. It was very difficult! I was so impressed by the talent and ingenuity of all the candidates.

One of the official selection criteria was how the student would apply their experiences in the U.S. after they returned to the Slovak Republic. I remembered hearing during our orientation last week the concern about the “brain drain” – the talented Slovaks who leave for other EU countries where they can earn more money and have more career opportunities. That was an important factor today.

Before the interviews began, I mentioned the problem of the sinking value of the dollar, which is now at all-time lows against the Euro, the British pound, and the Slovak Koruna. It's a problem for the Slovak Fulbright Commission too, as their grant from the U.S. State Department is in dollars!