An experience not to be missed

The 30 participants of the Fulbright Intercultural Communication Program at Georgia Tech are back from their three-week seminar in Atlanta, where they not only had the opportunity to experience U.S. campus life but also learned more on topics such as leadership, entrepreneurship, and service learning.

Participant Janice Meier (Business Administration/ Hamburg School of Business Administration) shares her experience:

If I were to sum up my experiences as a Fulbright student at Georgia Tech Language Institute, I would not even know where to start. However, the motto explaining it best would probably be:
An experience not to be missed. The Fulbright Intercultural Communication Program offers a once in a lifetime insight into the American culture and a taste of what studying abroad can be like.

The great variety of classes and activities offered has been a unique opportunity to learn differently and broaden our minds. I really appreciated the opportunity to experience both theory and practice in class. Meaning, we did not only focus on theoretical studies, but were actually able to support a local community and help improving existing business models. Yet, it was the mix of people in our group that made this trip a valuable experience for me. I was surrounded by many ambitious, interesting and kind people from all different backgrounds. What united us was the eager excitement to explore the American culture and campus life as well as the English language. Friendships, which will certainly last for a long time, developed. I will be forever grateful for the ways these new friendships have encouraged me looking at issues from a different perspective and enhanced my communication skills.

At this point, a huge shout out to our Chinese friends, who perfectly complemented our German group. It was a pleasure to work with them and our groups truly benefited from the heterogeneous knowledge people from different nations contributed. We learned that by approaching the work in international groups with the right amount of patience, curiosity and openness we could overcome any verbal or cultural barrier and, in the end, create great(er) results.

Three weeks are not a long time, however, I feel like this amount of time is more than enough to be better prepared for my future life. Overall, speaking to prospective applicants, I can highly recommend this program with all my heart. The stay at GA Tech did not only met my expectations, it exceeded them. Thank you to everyone who made it such an unforgettable experience for us. I believe I am speaking for all my fellow German Fulbright students at GA Tech: The time was wonderful and it went by way too fast.

For more personal impressions, please also see the group’s blog at: https://fulbright-reiseblog2018.jimdofree.com/

The call for applications for the 2019 program will be announced this coming fall. For more information on the program, please visit our website at Summer Institute für Studierende an Dualen Hochschulen.

This program is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through funds of the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Photo credit: Janice Meier