Getting an apartment

For the SUSI 2010, the program organizers arranged accommodation for all the participants. But for the Fulbright Research Scholar Program, the researcher is supposed to get an apartment on his own. The process of getting an apartment in the U.S. is different from the way it is done in my country.

You need to sign a lease before having access to the apartment. For that, the apartment managers require your presence before anything. If you are not there, it is impossible to have a lease signed for you. In my case, I was fortunate to have a friend in Georgia who used his SSN to arrange the lease for me. He sent the parts that I needed to sign and after signing, I scanned and sent them to the U.S. I joined my apartment the day I arrived in the U.S. which is not the case for many people who come to the U.S. They have to spend some time with friends, share apartment with other people or sleep in a hotel before getting arrangements for the apartment.

The payment of the rent is done differently here from the way it is done in my country. The management of my apartment will not take cash for rent. It is either direct transfer to the account of the apartment or a check. Besides, here, you pay your rent at the beginning of the month and not at the end of the month as it is done in my country.

Preparing to apply for the Fulbright Research Scholarship

Preparing to apply for the Fulbright Research Scholarship

I was part of the many scholars in Togo who are not amply informed about the Fulbright Research Scholarship. This is probably due to the fact that we are a small African French speaking country. It is true that Togolese know about the Fulbright grant to do a Master or a Ph.D. in an American Institutions but many don’t know about the Fulbright research program.

I had the privilege to hear about the Fulbright Research Scholarship from one of my colleague from Togo Dr. Komlan M. Avono who was a Fulbright Research in Nebraska (2012-2013). I heard it because I helped him fill in the forms for his application. I think he asked me to help because I had taken part in the Study of United State Institute (SUSI 2010) in New York. It was an exchange program that gathered 18 people coming from different countries outside the U.S to learn about the American Culture and Society. He was Texas State University San Marcos in 2013 for Outreach Lecture as part of his Fulbright experience where he met a Professor of American Literature and asked him to write a recommendation letter in support of my application.

Many people don’t apply because not only they are not informed about the program but because the paperwork for the application as well as the process is challenging and too long. A detailed project in needs to be written in English. This is difficult because Togo is a French speaking country. Another challenge before the application is to have an invitation letter from a host institution in the U.S. It is difficult to get a professor in your field of study who has the support of the administration of the institution. Another challenge is the long time it takes before you get the feedback from your application. I my case, it took more than one year after my application before I was informed about the result. This is due to the fact that there is a selection at the national level before the final selection in the U.S. So you are stuck in your projects within this period of expectation of results.

But when you get a positive result, you forget about all the time you have been expecting the results and all the challenges you have gone through.

GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!

GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!

(Personal Reflection)

 

In the parable of the talents (Mat. 25:14-30), the Master commended the first two (2) servants: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ … “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Mat. 25: 21, 23).

Many people usually think that the Master has commended these servants for working hard to increase the talents that they were entrusted with. This is partly true because in actual fact, the Master does not mention the increase as being the reason for His commendation but rather says “GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”. He did not commend them for achieving much but for being faithful with few things: “You have been faithful with a few things”.

Faithful servants are those who don’t use crooked or corrupt ways to achieve their goals. They don’t think that “the end justifies the means” and ALL means are good to achieve one’s goal. Faithful servants don’t cheat, blackmail, bribe, corrupt and embezzle. Haven’t you ever seen many people who achieve great things in wrong ways and are never happy?

It is better to have little being faithful than to have more being unfaithful. Many people can be unfaithful but only few people can be faithful. Try to be among the few people that are faithful. If you are faithful with your modest achievement, God even nature will reward you and you will be happy.

 
If you are sincere with yourself, your intuition and the Word of God will tell you if you are faithful in what you are doing (working or studying) or not. If you think there is something that you need to amend, do it before it is too late because only the faithful servants will be rewarded.