Failing your Fulbright Interview
This week is my anniversary of being named a Fulbright semi-finalist - both in 2022 and 2023.
In reflecting on my own experience, I have sifted through articles about Fulbright interview tips. I came across several articles about “failing” Fulbright. In one such article, titled How I Failed my Fulbright Scholarship Interview, a Pakistani applicant relates their experience with the Fulbright interview, how they could have improved, and why they think they did not receive the award.
It is helpful to reflect on the interview, taking stock of what went well and what could be improved. I myself wrote such a post about what I would change in my Fulbright semi-finalist interviews:
My Fulbright Interview: What I Would Do Differently
Even so, I do not believe that it is possible to “fail” a high stakes scholarship interview like Fulbright. Here’s why:
Fulbright is not a board game. It might be true in Monopoly, but the winner/loser paradigm is unhelpful and overly simplistic when it comes to Fulbright. Across the U.S. and foreign students and scholars programs, there are around eight thousand Fulbright grantees yearly. Does that mean all the other applicants are “losers”? Did they “fail”?
Absolutely not! Just applying to Fulbright is a win. There is nothing to lose and much to gain through the application process: clarify career goals, interrogate your ideas and motivations, develop writing skills, and expand your network. Go into the semi-finalist interview knowing that there is nothing to lose, keeping yourself wide open to the learning and growth available through this experience. There is no such thing as failure here.
Perhaps I eschew the winner/loser paradigm because of my experience as a classical pianist. Auditions and competitions are less about winning and more about testing my abilities under pressure. In fact, if I’m winning everything, I am probably not seeking out sufficiently challenging opportunities.
I have a favorite quote from President Teddy Roosevelt that I return to when preparing for competitions. Last year, I revisited it after my remote COMEXUS interview. I closed my laptop, heaved a big sigh of relief, and read out loud:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
This blog (www.melissaterrallpiano.com/blog) is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.
Melissa’s Tips for Crafting a Successful Fulbright Appliation, Part 4: Finding an Affiliate