Foreign countries, deep dive into government for college grads
There is the usual path— graduate from high school, go to college, graduate from college, get a job or continue another leg of your formal education. But what about those college graduates who decide to do something else? Each of these recent grads chose the path less taken for their first year out of college.
MEETING UP IN Spain while studying there are neighborhood pals Zöe Gittelson and Eli Weiss.
While attending UC Berkeley, Zöe Gittelson, of Brookside, spent one semester of her junior year studying in Madrid, Spain. “I loved living abroad and wanted to do it again,” the recent graduate exclaimed.
And Gittelson made it happen. She will be spending this October through the end of May in Madrid. This time she will be an English teacher’s assistant. She applied and was accepted to a Spanish government program called the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program. The program fosters collaborative educational programs between the U.S. and Spain, similar to a Fulbright scholarship.
As part of the program, she will receive a monthly stipend but has to find her own housing. She’s not worried since she’s already lived there.
Through the program, she may be assigned to work with pre-school children up through college aged students, a huge range, she noted. “I just have to be ready for whatever comes,” Gittelson said. She wants to become fluent in Spanish and feels this is an excellent opportunity.
After her time abroad, she plans on moving to Washington, D.C., to use her political science degree and find a job dealing with government policy or working for a political campaign, since it will be an election year.
Like Gittelson, Teva Corwin, of Windsor Square (the two are best friends), also spent time abroad during her tenure at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She spent her junior year in Bogota, Colombia. “It was awesome; I loved it! It was the best thing ever,” she gushed.
EXPLORING COLOMBIA during her year abroad is Teva Corwin.
“I didn’t want to enter the real world yet,” said the recent college graduate. She applied to different programs and received a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship, one of about 8,000 awarded worldwide. She is headed to Ciudad Guzmán, a small, rural town, “with a Walmart,” Corwin noted, in Jalisco, Mexico. She is part of the English Teaching Assistant Program.
In Ciudad Guzmán, Corwin will work with undergraduates at a teachers’ training college. Additionally, she will teach at a pre-school, gaining experience with the oldest and youngest students.
Corwin didn’t find out she had been accepted to the Fulbright program until this summer. Normally recipients are told in April, but the Trump administration unlawfully canceled the scholarships of close to 200 recipients. In June, the 12- member bipartisan Fulbright board voted to resign, as their letter states, rather than endorse unprecedented conduct. “Actions that [the board] believe[s] are impermissible under law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago.” Additionally, the administration has cut hundreds of millions of dollars to the program. It’s uncertain whether it will be able to continue. Corwin could be one of the last students to receive this prestigious grant.
“I love school. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to ask questions and think about ideas and [school] is a space for that,” commented Eli Weiss of Windsor Square. He recently graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a degree in government.
Weiss is the recipient of a public service fellowship that focuses on leadership in Los Angeles. Starting this month and continuing for the next nine, he will be one of a dozen recent graduates participating in this program.
Weiss will be placed at different organizations throughout his time in the program—government, private sector, nonprofit—to learn about and see leadership in action. “I want to learn what it takes to be a good leader,” said Weiss. “It gives me a chance to talk with and learn from leaders.”
After this program, he’s thinking of going to graduate school and then applying to law school. He truly does love school!
Category: People
