Alumna discusses Fulbright fellowship in Indonesia

(Editor’s Note: This article was written by Jessica Blank ’11)

After studying abroad her junior year in India, Sarah MacKenzie ’09 realized that she wanted to work overseas after graduation, and thought that a Fulbright fellowship would be the perfect option.

She went through the application process, and in March of her senior year learned that she had been selected. She flew to Java, Indonesia, where she lived and worked for a year, teaching children how to speak English.

Colgate was recently recognized as one of the top producers of Fulbright fellows, and MacKenzie was invited back to campus to talk about her experience by the university’s Office of National Fellowships and Scholarships.

MacKenzie worked at a government-run vocational high school that specializes in technical and electrical education. The school has 2,000 students who attend classes six days a week.

She was responsible for teaching 10 classes of 36 students for about 20 hours a week, and focused on developing lessons plans to teach basic conversational English. She used many creative methods in her classroom, including music, videos, and American board games.

MacKenzie felt as if she served as a representative of American culture.

Sarah MacKenzie’s students helped her celebrate Colgate Day on Nov. 13, 2009.

 

“In Indonesia, I was one of the first foreigners they had ever met, and definitely the first American they had ever met,” MacKenzie said. “They called me Cinderella because I was the first blond person they had ever seen.”

MacKenzie also was invited to many special events in Java because the community was so proud to have a native English speaker in their neighborhood. She reminisced about the generosity and curiosity of the Indonesians.

“They were very concerned about what Americans thought about Indonesia,” she said.

MacKenzie also spoke about the cultural exchange that took place and how she celebrated American holidays, such as Halloween, with her students, as well as Colgate Day. In return, she learned about their culture.

“They are devoutly religious. You must identity with one of five religions and notify the government. In the school where I taught, the students prayed before and after every class,” she said.

MacKenzie, who majored in and sociology and anthropology and Asian studies at Colgate, now attends the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions and is studying speech language pathology with a concentration in autism spectrum disorders.