All the (ETA) World’s a Stage

Erin ShawUniversity of North Carolina at Asheville The end of the grant is starting to creep up over the horizon. In one more month, bags will be packed, the trusty Nissan Almera with a deceptively wide turning radius will be returned to the rental agency, and pre-loved baju kurungs will be boxed up for the …

Into the Abstract

Guest Article by Joey Krenz  University of Minnesota, Twin Cities              When I applied for a Fulbright ETA grant in Malaysia, the last place I expected to be living was up in the mountains.  Fast-forward to January 2017 and I’m living in Ranau, a small town at the base of Mt. Kinabalu on the island …

A poem: Two Squares Of Light Cast Out The Window

Guest article by Carlina DuanUniversity of MichiganPoem first presented at a celebration of the 2016 ETA program at the National Library of Malaysia on October 31, 2016.  Carlina and her Form 4 students at the release party of their literary arts anthology, Underneath My Heart (in collaboration with SMK Jengka 16 & 18). One of …

Bootstraps and Boleh

Guest article by Alana Deluty College of Wooster Some of Alana's Form 4 students at the ETA led Superteens Teen Empowerment Camp  During orientation, the program coordinators had us read an article Called "Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person," an excellent piece by Gina Crosley-Corcoran. This blog post isn't really about white privilege, …

Processing Blackness

Guest article by Shima St. GermainAgnes Scott CollegeThe history with my race has been an exhausting roller coaster ride. It’s been riddled with questioning, conscious searching for belonging, impostor syndrome, hatred, lack of understanding, and a boat-load of confusion with myself, the world, and everything in between. There was a moment of perceived peace after …

Where the Doors Stay Open

Guest Article by Shayna CitrenbaumPomona College Raya (Eid al-Fitr) is like this: the eighth house of the day all in pink and the whole family matching, pink and shiny, my student with the kind eyes saying “pow pow” and me supplying the word “fireworks,” hearing tambah lagi tambah lagi and Meg's giggle over how much …

The Hats We Wear

Guest Article by Kayla SweeneyWestern Kentucky University I’m convinced months have fewer days here in Malaysia, although the hours sometimes pass like a humid, slow-motion film. There is much I cannot form into words yet. The constant but slow processing that happens as we learn from the students in front of us, the mountains stretched …

The (Super) Power of Language

Guest article by Morgan Hughes College of Wooster Morgan and students participate in a small-group discussion in class. I spend a lot of time thinking about language. And not just in the sense that I teach English and so it is literally my job to think about language. Parts of speech, irregular verb conjugations, and …

A Lasting Impression

Press article by Rozana Sani of New Straits Times: Learning Curve

A Happy Misfortune

Guest article by Rebecca Fulp-Eickstaedt The College of William & Mary Rebecca standing next to her rental car Oh my goodness, what a morning. It was supposed to be a very important one for me. Madame Tan (my mentor) had arranged to have my official "welcoming ceremony" at today's 7:20 AM assembly, so this morning my alarm …