Griffin St. Onge was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in France from 2019-2020. She was placed at a high school in Bischheim, in the suburbs of Strasbourg. While there, she taught classes for twelve hours per week, led a lunch in English club, and ran an English class for a special education section at the school. She also did a bit of volunteering for an organization that ran homework help for kids in Strasbourg.
“I absolutely loved my time in Strasbourg, and had never thought of living there until I got my Fulbright placement!” Griffin said. “I made wonderful friends, presented my work at the Fulbright France annual conference, and grew very fond of Alsatian culture and cuisine.”
After her year with Fulbright, Griffin decided to stay in France and still lives there now. At the end of her grant, she spent two years teaching English at the Université d'Orléans, and is now in the second year of a Master of Public Policy degree at Sciences Po in Paris. Griffin said through the scholarship, she developed a love for teaching and a desire to learn more about education systems and policy work overall.
“There was always guidance when I was faced with a challenge, and a network of incredible people in our grant cohort,” Griffin said about the Fulbright program. “I also received more funding compared to if I had gone with other programs. For example, my flight was paid for, and I received additional stipend money monthly that left me with a good quality of life. When the pandemic hit towards the end of my grant, Fulbright stepped up for us a lot more than other programs. It’s hard to understate how instrumental those additional resources were to me being able to remain in France once the program ended.”
Griffin said that although she had known about the Fulbright ETA in France for most of her college career and been interested in applying, she decided not to apply until her senior year because she didn’t think she would have a chance. In retrospect, she would encourage younger students to take advantage of the resources they have.
“Michigan's Fulbright center is phenomenal, with a stock of old successful application essays and experienced advisors willing to give you line-by-line edits of your materials,” Griffin said. “I'm super grateful for the support I received at Michigan once I reached out. If you have the time and capacity to complete the application, get started early and go through lots of drafts. The effort you put into the application goes a long way, and you never know what will happen. Believe in yourself!”
Griffin St. Onge was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in France from 2019-2020. She was placed at a high school in Bischheim, in the suburbs of Strasbourg. While there, she taught classes for twelve hours per week, led a lunch in English club, and ran an English class for a special education section at the school. She also did a bit of volunteering for an organization that ran homework help for kids in Strasbourg.
“I absolutely loved my time in Strasbourg, and had never thought of living there until I got my Fulbright placement!” Griffin said. “I made wonderful friends, presented my work at the Fulbright France annual conference, and grew very fond of Alsatian culture and cuisine.”
After her year with Fulbright, Griffin decided to stay in France and still lives there now. At the end of her grant, she spent two years teaching English at the Université d'Orléans, and is now in the second year of a Master of Public Policy degree at Sciences Po in Paris. Griffin said through the scholarship, she developed a love for teaching and a desire to learn more about education systems and policy work overall.
“There was always guidance when I was faced with a challenge, and a network of incredible people in our grant cohort,” Griffin said about the Fulbright program. “I also received more funding compared to if I had gone with other programs. For example, my flight was paid for, and I received additional stipend money monthly that left me with a good quality of life. When the pandemic hit towards the end of my grant, Fulbright stepped up for us a lot more than other programs. It’s hard to understate how instrumental those additional resources were to me being able to remain in France once the program ended.”
Griffin said that although she had known about the Fulbright ETA in France for most of her college career and been interested in applying, she decided not to apply until her senior year because she didn’t think she would have a chance. In retrospect, she would encourage younger students to take advantage of the resources they have.
“Michigan's Fulbright center is phenomenal, with a stock of old successful application essays and experienced advisors willing to give you line-by-line edits of your materials,” Griffin said. “I'm super grateful for the support I received at Michigan once I reached out. If you have the time and capacity to complete the application, get started early and go through lots of drafts. The effort you put into the application goes a long way, and you never know what will happen. Believe in yourself!”
