I Survived the 5910 District Conference.

I have a conflict here. On the one hand, I have a vested interest in not boring the hell out of you. Which means I probably shouldn’t keep talking about the district conference.

On the other hand, you know I always tell you what’s on my mind … and what’s on tap at the moment is about a hundred ideas, thoughts, wonderings and insights. All of which (sorry!) have to do with the crazy three days I spent back in my home town.

So here’s what I’m going to do. Quick verbal snapshots of some of the stuff that’s percolating in my brain right now, and we’ll see how it goes from there.

The three days I spent away were the most fun ever. Say, whaaaat? Well, sorta.

I need to make a confession. I just spent four days at a conference in my home town and didn’t actual go home.

Well I was there. But only for sleep.

At first it was just because I was having too much fun at the conference. And then it was because I was meeting people and making useful connections.

And by the end, it was kind of “well, I’ve come this far”. Like, actually going home would be over the top.

So I’m thinking … these completely fascinating conversations with like-minded thinkers, helper-mice and fellow goofball service-seekers were so valuable and so inspiring that I can’t wait to do it again.

Just maybe not at a a district conference.

Highlights and Lowlights

• PDG Ulises Vidana Saldana’s (commissioned to speak by RI President, from Mexico City) ill-prepared, misogynist keynote address on the usefulness of women Rotarians–since females are becoming more involved anyway– between cracking jokes about gender roles and how, although silent, women have control over men
• Rotaract Club of Angelina College and their quickly-approaching service project with South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
• Meeting Kaustavi from Calcutta at the Zone Club; Learning about Kolkata’s lags, disorganization, administrative snafoos and overall, lack of safety
• Meeting and spending time with all my right kind of people–Josmery, Allison, Marlee, Raul and Adele–exchange students and foreign ambassadors
• Mouzon Biggs (Methodist mega-church pastor of Boston Avenue in Tulsa,OK and Rotarian) keynote on service being in our hands yadda yadda, invoking Galileo’s crime, the ruins of Petra and the women of  Grey Gardens who turn in on themselves as anecdotes along the way
• funding and distributing the Iron Lung, a mechanical respiratory chamber for those suffering from Polio

No brilliant conclusions or anything. I’m just sitting with all of this, and watching it sift through my sleep-deprived brain. Getting excited about where I might take these ideas, without having to take them anywhere just yet.

I can definitely say that I’m happy to get home.

The following is intended for Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholars, Cultural Scholars and  World Peace Fellows. While there is certainly useful information (albeit general) contained herein concerning application procedures to graduate programs outside of the US, living abroad and social networking, much of this information is through the lens of Rotary International. Utilizing the contacts and resources of Rotary, all posts denoted as such attempt to provide insight to those applying to Indian institutions, preparing for their move to India and fulfilling the obligations of this prestigious scholarship award. The following in no way conveys the range of  knowledge that traveling abroad encompasses. Also, the suggestions are , at this stage however, not organized in any particular order. That being said, borrow these ideas, supplement them with your own and please, keep the conversation going.

Pre-Departure: Applying to Your Approved Institutions in Host Country

1. Notice of admission may take up to at least a month after you have submitted your application file to your prospective university. In your application file you should include the following: One copy of your college diploma (if you have already graduated), one copy of your academic marks record, your C.V., a couple letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose to the program to which you are applying in addition to the generic application form the university requires. Some universities may also require an official copy of your birth certificate. *Please also make certain you are aware of and enclose all necessary application fees.
2. In many cases, once the department selection committee has discussed your application with favorable aplomb, your application file must be reviewed by the Vice-Chancellor of the university for confirmation. This is merely a formality, but can add an additional week before you are officially notified of your admission status.
3. Be persistent. Weekly contact with the department head is not excessive, but rather, necessary to expediting the application process. As you are a foreign national and working in a different time table–you must act quickly as you have a visa to apply for–anticipate applying to your university 1-2 solid months prior to the noted deadline for Indian nationals
4. Look into your prospective institution’s policy on the GRE. Often selection committees prefer and recommend that foreign nationals present scores at time of admission and will give first choice to those who have taken it with favorable marks.
5. Utilize your Rotary contacts.  Through the club locator on the Rotary website, often times clubs in your host district will maintain a club-specific website that tells a bit more about their members, service projects and upcoming convergences. Look for Rotarians that serve as educators at your host institution (a google search is also beneficial) and contact them to see if they would act as a liasion between yourself and the prospective university.
6. Sometimes, specific Indian institutions (University of Delhi, Jadavpur University,etc.) will require proof of accreditation of your home university. Your actual application should be stamped with a seal from the US Department of Education (or Higher Education Board equivalent in your home state) or at the Indian Embassy or Consulate verifying that your degree was conferred at an accredited institution and that the degree for which you allege, you did, in fact, receive. Please plan for post travel time as the US Department of Education is very busy.
7. At the time of submission (March 2009), each appliation file was sent FedEx–guaranteeed, on-time delivery–from Austin to Kolkata, at the cost of $52 USD per package. It was signed for after 3 days in-transit. For this price, you cannot afford to leave any documents out. Save all reciepts. Your sponsoring Rotary club may offer to re-imburse you.
8. When looking into courses of study and program specifics, the best way to put your finger on the pulse of a program is to ask former students about their experience. An email to the head of a department requesting contact information for former graduates should be ample. And of course, always ask for the course syllabus.
9. Making initial contact with someone in the department was…tiring. After death, taxes and inclement weather, it can be one of the Scholar’s inescapable downers: the first phone call. Not only did it require me to place a call to the university in the middle of the night due to time difference, but also, noone who worked in administration or the operator spoke English. Getting help can be an automated hell, an eternity of India Muzak, code punching and security questions. Thankfully, Skype charges very minimal international calling costs which allows $10 USD to go surprisingly far. Here are some tips for ensuring a prompt connection to your intended party, ie. department head: A) Tell the operator you need to be connected to the English Department, certainly someone is bound to understand you there or B)Shoot straight for the top and ring the Vice-Chancellor’s office. The assistant is sure to speak the King’s English, and if they refuse help because you are cheating the system, they will always be able to connect you to the appropriate department.
10. One note of suggestion for recommendation letters: Include one from the Rotary chairperson (or someone very familiar with the program), one from an academic professor who knows your work and research interests extensively and, if possible, one from the President of your home university (suggested, not necessary).
11. General note of caution: Check to make sure your course of study begins on or after July 1 of your assigned scholarship year.
12. Indian cities will occasionally experience “brown outs,” prolonged periods of time in which large regions of the country will lose most if not all electrical power. If this occurs, simply pick up the phone if making contact is needed and cannot wait. Similarly, email servers through the university have been known to become unresponsive and inaccessible from time to time. Be sure to ask for a web-based email address (most professors should have one–yahoo, hotmail, gmail) so that should the server go down, they are still accessible.