It Takes a Village

It takes a village to create a Fulbright Scholar!

There are many people to whom I wish to give hearty thanks for their part in helping me realize my desire to become a Fulbright Scholar in India.   I hereby declare my gratitude to the following awesome people:

John Graulty, Priscilla Hollingsworth, and Shannon Wright – for taking the time to write letters of recommendation for me, and for their thoughtful encouragement.

Catherine Johnston Matto – for patiently answering my numerous questions about the Fulbright application process — and the many other people working at CIES and USIEF who have helped me with all of the post-selection paperwork and arrangements to travel to India.  I give a particularly giant thank you to Shevanti Narayan and Sumanta Basu of USIEF for helping me navigate the maze of my first weeks in West Bengal.

Andy Bender, Roslyn Bullas, Kathy Einhorn, Cid Pearlman, Joh Rathbun, Gail Ritchie, and Holly Wallack – for their helpful commentary during the development of my project proposal.

Suzanne Benton, Catherine Bebout, Gretchen Cochran, Bonita Cohn, Jim Danisch, Sharbani Das Gupta, Stephen Huyler, Joel Isaacson, Vineet Kacker, Wendy King, Melinda Michaels, Mackenzie Smith, and Alan Teller – for the enriching discussions and communications regarding their experiences in India, and/or with the Fulbright organization.

Liz Crain and Whitney Smith – for the expert blogging advice and especially the camaraderie!

Tara Siegel – for making my website so much more user friendly.  You saved me!

The many friends and family members who offered support, encouragement and delight in my good news – y’all know who you are.

I am a coffee shop/café writer.  When I’m home I’m either in the studio, or knee-deep in any number of projects within my fledgling garden and blank-slate house.  One way that I’m sure to get some writing done is to go somewhere where the only tasks available to me  (other than writing) are to drink tea and eat a croissant! Therefore, I credit the following fine Santa Cruz establishments with unknowingly facilitating the writing of my Fulbright proposal:  The Buttery, Java Junction, Lulu Carpenter’s, and Staff of Life.

And, just because she made me laugh, cheers to the vibrant woman in line for lunch at The Buttery, who chimed in – while I was sharing with two friends my news of this Fulbright award – just to declare that even she was proud of me, although she’d never seen me before in her life!

Finally, I saved the most important for last – my darling husband Stan – for everything.

Thank you!

Cynthia

www.cynthiasiegel.com

4 thoughts on “It Takes a Village”

  1. Cynthia, I just went through all your posts. Amazing, particularly given the amount of effort that goes into creating these sculptures… sounds like you are learning a whole lot and having the time of your life. What an awesome experience! Enjoy!!! xoxo Joan

    1. Hi Joan! I just saw your comment. Thanks! My experiences here have been so varied and rich. I feel very grateful to the Fulbright and USIEF organizations for making it all possible!
      Giant Hugs for you!
      Cy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *