Hometown: Sinking Spring, PA
School: University of Tampa
Fulbright ETA placement location and year: Samarinda 2011-2012, Kendari 2012-2013
Current city and job: New York City, YES Grant Coordinator at iEARN-USA
Life after Fulbright: After returning from Indonesia, I moved to New York City and began working at iEARN-USA, a nonprofit organization that focuses on international education. I started at iEARN as a Program Assistant for the U.S. government-funded National Security Language Initiative for Youth program, and was then promoted to a Program Coordinator for the YES program. My first interaction with the YES program was as an ETA in Indonesia when I helped some of my high school students apply for the scholarship, so it has been really interesting to see the grant from the other side. I love that it gives me the opportunity to continue working with international students and partners, and even use my Bahasa every so often. The best part of my job is getting to run professional development workshops for YES alumni, which has taken me to Cameroon, Tunisia, South Africa, and even back to Indonesia.
As an added fun fact, I live with two other Indonesia ETA alumni (Sarah Brafman and Lily Wiggins), in a batik-filled apartment in Brooklyn.