ONIF Student Spotlight
March 3, 2023
Name: Annie Heckman
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Major: Biochemistry
Graduation Date: May 2022
Fellowship Award: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Taiwan. The Fulbright program places ETAs in classrooms around the world to teach English and act as ambassadors for cross-cultural communication.
What are your current or future career plans? I plan to become a primary care physician. I am interested in public health, so I hope that I can address community health issues as both a physician and a public health practitioner.
What did you enjoy most about the program? I have most enjoyed becoming immersed in Taiwanese culture through my school community. Teaching in a school, and interacting with students and teachers every day, offers a unique perspective when living in another country. For instance, on my first day of school, I was surprised to learn that the school does not have custodial staff. Instead, the students clean for thirty minutes every day before class begins. Also, at the beginning and end of every class, the students stand up, bow, and thank the teacher. These customs are very different from those that I experienced in school in the United States. By teaching in a Taiwanese elementary school, I have been able to experience aspects of Taiwanese culture that I would otherwise have not observed if I were just a tourist.
What was the most challenging aspect of the program? The most challenging aspect of the program was the application process and subsequent wait before I knew I had been selected as a finalist. It’s not uncommon for the Fulbright Program to release finalist notifications in late spring, and I didn’t learn I was a finalist until the last week of April. It can be very difficult to be a college senior and not know what you will be doing the next year. While the wait was worth it in the end, the period of not knowing from October until April was very challenging for me.
What advice do you have for future applicants? Before writing your application essays, spend time to honestly reflect on why you chose to apply to your country of choice. Only after some reflection should you begin to write, and when you do, convey your reasons for choosing the country as genuinely as possible. If you are honest with yourself about why you chose a country, it will come through in your writing.
What would people be surprised to know about your experience? My schools are the southernmost placements in the Fulbright Taiwan Program! It takes my roommate and me more than an hour to get to the nearest train station and more than two hours to get to the towns where the rest of our county cohort lives!
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For more information about the Fulbright ETA Program in Taiwan visit: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/east-asia-pacific/taiwan/1817 or contact ONIF.