Henderson to Germany on a Fulbright
Senior Greta Henderson has accepted a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to teach English in Germany.
The highly competitive award allows her the opportunity to work alongside a full-time English teacher to assist with daily lessons and after-school programming. Henderson, a German studies and English: creative writing double major from Denver, Iowa, will learn the location of the German school where she’ll be working later in June.
Henderson and her classmate, Billie Fogarty, bring the total number of Fulbrights awarded to Cornell graduates in the past 11 years to 19.
What does this opportunity mean to you?
Applying for and being offered the Fulbright has been a year-long whirlwind experience. I’m so honored to have been offered the position, and I know it’s going to help me so much in moving toward my future plans. I am working toward becoming a literary translator, and the year in Germany will allow me to hone my skills and become more confident in navigating the language and culture before I attend the University of Iowa in the fall of 2024 as a graduate student in their MFA program in literary translation. I have already deferred acceptance to that program for one year and look forward to joining after my year abroad.
What are you most excited about learning?
I will most likely be placed in a rural village in the Rheinland-Pfalz region, and I’m most excited about learning the intricacies of rural German life. When I’ve visited Germany in the past, it’s almost always been to big cities like Berlin or Hamburg, and I’m excited to see and learn about how these smaller communities function differently.
What was the application process like?
I began applying for the Fulbright Award this past summer. It was one of four year-long experiential awards abroad that I applied to. I had to write a statement of grant purpose, send in a resume, and answer questions about placement preference and how I would spend my time outside of work. I also had to submit two letters of recommendation, an institutional endorsement ensuring that Cornell College also believed I would be a good fit for the award, and a letter from a professor verifying my proficiency in the German language. After all of that, I was “interviewed” by a committee of Cornell faculty, including Associate Professor of German Studies and History Tyler Carrington and L.L. Hamline Professor of Liberal Arts James Martin, and they helped me hone my application before finally sending it off. After that, I was notified in early January that I was chosen as a semi-finalist and told in early April that I had been offered the award.
Writing Studio Director and Director of Fellowships and Scholarships Laura Farmer coached me through this whole process. I sent her countless emails this year about all of the different opportunities I applied to and she helped me workshop my personal essays and make my decisions. She celebrated my wins with confetti poppers and helped me move past my losses.
I also want to thank all of the professors who wrote me recommendation letters this year but, in particular, Professor Carrington, who outside of Laura was probably one of my most frequent contacts for assistance in the applications.
What did it feel like to receive the news?
It’s funny. After I submitted my application, I kind of refused to allow myself to imagine not getting the Fulbright. Blind optimism was my strategy, and it seems to have worked! Still, when I received the news it was a bit of a surreal moment for me. I was in the middle of band rehearsal and I had to leave for a moment to check my computer and see the results. When you apply for a Fulbright you’re told how prestigious the award is, and I think even the most prestigious people imagine that there are others more qualified than them, so it was a bit of a surprise even in spite of my hopeful perspective.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I play the alto saxophone in three ensembles at Cornell, and I hope to bring my saxophone to Germany with me next year. In an upper-level German course I took in my junior year, I did a presentation for the class explaining how to play different styles of music on the saxophone, and Professor Carrington encouraged me to include this anecdote in my Fulbright application. So it’s possible I could be teaching some musical terminology, etc. while abroad!
My parents were the ones who pushed me to apply for a Fulbright, along with many of the other opportunities I was later offered. They believed from the beginning that I was capable of getting these awards, and they encouraged me and made me believe in myself as well.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
