The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/705015
2 8 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U Seabrook Jones has built a career around her Fulbright experience, and is now taking her own students on study-abroad trips regularly. When did you fi rst discover the Fulbright Scholarship? I still remember my f rst Ful- bright meeting. There were about 10 students there, and Dr. Condon started talking about the Fulbright. I thought it sounded like something I'd like to do. But I had no idea how much that meeting would change my life. I even remember where I was sitting! You later went on to work as Dr. Condon's assistant. What was that like? Yes. I worked with her from 2009 to 2012. I learned so much from her. She is just so good at spotting the things that make students unique, and developing that. She helps you understand the special things you need to do to take things to the next level. She's incredible. Was there any part of the application process that you saw as particularly helpful? One thing we do that is pretty great is "speed dating." Basically, we take all of our candidates — usually between 30 and 40 people — and match them up with a big roster of faculty. We'd pick faculty based on their disciplines and experience helping us with Fulbright. So let's say we have someone going to Brazil. They'd meet with a Latin America specialist. Then they'd meet with a language teacher. Then they'd meet with someone who is maybe a political science professor, but who has lived in Brazil. And let's not forget, the students are doing a lot of hard work to get to this point. The students have to have the goods. But they get to bring their work to top faculty and get quick, valuable feedback. What drove you to apply for an ETA in South Korea? Well, before I won the Fulbright, Dr. Condon helped me win a scholarship from the English Speaking Union to study at Cambridge in the summer of 2002. While I was there, I took a course on the Cold War, and I was learning a lot about international relations. One of the things I got really interested in was U.S. intervention in Korea. This was right when we were intervening in Afghanistan, and I started realizing that Korea was a really good example of how U.S. intervention can work well. So I remembered the meeting I had had a couple years earlier and realized that I was ready! I now had an academic interest that would be a great f t for the Fulbright. What was life like once you were there? While I was there I taught at Pho Hang Girl's High School. It was just a magical year. I stayed with two home-families, I got to make tons of friends — both fellow Fulbrighters and people who lived there. It was just so great to be so deeply immersed. You can feel changed when you go abroad for a single week. But a whole year? It was just absolutely wonderful. It was a total game changer for me. How has the Fulbright been a game changer? I'm c u r rent ly a n assist a nt histor y professor at Schreiner University in Texas, but I'm also the coordinator for the Global Scholars Program. And what's really fabulous about my job is that I teach freshman courses that are internationally themed. We also work to internationalize campus by hosting cultural events. Then, in the summer after their freshman year, I take students to South Korea for three weeks. And that's just so special to me. So when I say that meeting I had in my junior year was life changing, it really was. Because of the Fulbright, I got in to great graduate programs. I've had excellent jobs. And now I'm in the process of establishing a Fulbright support program for this small university. It's like everything I went through has culminated in this wonderful job. Seabrook Jones English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) South Korea, 2003 - 2004 frequent fl yer historian Jones (far left)