Eliza Holmes'24 is in her very neat room in a suburb outside Athens. She's doing a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship and loving it. On the wall behind her screen, the nosy viewer can see carefully arranged photos and postcards. "I've always had a strong sense of who I am and what I want," she says. Early in her academic career, Eliza knew that she wanted to become a teacher. When she didn't receive the Fulbright ETA in Colombia she applied for her senior year, she went to plan B: a master's in education at Harvard. While she was there, she applied for another Fulbright ETA, this time in Greece, where she could use both her background in English/Sociology and her teaching skills.
Eliza's work in Greece is divided between college counseling for seniors (and some alumni), and in-class teaching, both at Athen College. The counseling work, reading essays and applications and talking one-on-one with applicants, is not unlike the work Eliza did in undergraduate admissions at Dartmouth. The teaching is at a large private school. As part of her master's program, Eliza taught 10th grade English and really enjoyed it.
Eliza applied for the Fulbright early in the summer the first time around, which allowed her to put a lot of time into her four or five essay drafts. She is, by nature, an early bird. "I have a five-year plan," she laughs. "I always think about next steps. But I also want to be sure to live in and appreciate the moment." She sees herself teaching for several years, preferably at public schools, but down the line she envisions a PhD in English Literature. Both ingredients for becoming—you guessed it—an English professor!
There's another ingredient: a pretty solid relationship. Eliza's boyfriend is applying to law schools, so she hopes to teach wherever he gets in. "He was incredibly supportive of my going away for a year, and I really hope to back with him in the U.S. next year," she says "It's nice that wherever he ends up for law school, I can teach."
For now, daily life is full of joys and challenges. Greek hospitality is a constant source of comfort and delight. "I feel truly at home," she says. "Today I messed up ordering lunch. I meant to order beans and spinach, but it came out completely wrong. I was so happy when the server corrected me in Greek instead of English!"
Eliza feels lucky in many ways. Does it help to know what you want in life? Sure. Does it help to get an early start on applications? Sure. One big lesson for Eliza lay in how much her first failure made her second, successful application so much easier. And she credits her comfort relying on mentors for feedback and advice.
Life and learning have always been tightly woven. Growing up in a small New Hampshire town and doing musical theatre, Eliza saw teachers, mentors, and peers inside and outside the classroom. "I will always strive to see my students as whole people," she says, "and to bring their interests into the classroom."
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Zara Kiger'25 is not missing the sub-freezing temperatures of Hanover, NH.
A natural early bird and a Biology major, she's currently on a Fulbright ETA in Logrono, Spain. As we speak, she's looking out the giant windows in the big old rustic apartment she shares with three other Fulbright scholars. "The building is yellow, and when the sky is blue, like it is today," she says, "it's really stunning." Zara teaches in two schools—one primary, the other secondary. Today she biked to the primary school, bouncing from kindergarten to middle school classes. In the secondary school, she leads classes in physics, chemistry, or biology. During recess, the other teachers often take Zara out for coffee.
In the evenings, Zara and her roommates take turns cooking dinner. While they teach in English, Zara practices her Spanish with other Fulbright friends. She's also started taking a salsa class and showing up to random open mic nights and informal jam sessions. (Zara was in a band at Dartmouth.)
Applying for the Fulbright appeared on Zara's radar June of her junior year. ("Deadlines stress me out," she admits.) She worked part time that summer and was able to get a jump on her application, completing four to five drafts in the process. "This really set me up for medical school applications," she says. The extra time also allowed her to reflect on her past experiences and see threads running through her life. She realized how similar teaching and practicing medicine could be, and why she was drawn to both.
Zara relied on mentors, from professors and advisors to students at Geisel, where she worked in a lab on CAR T-cell cancer research. "I became very close to an MD/PhD student in the lab, and I'll be playing with my band at her wedding! She's one of the first people I told when I got the Fulbright."
Life in Logrono, the capital of Rioja, Spain's preeminent wine region, is lived at a very different pace from life at Dartmouth. "I bike past this gorgeous cathedral in the old town, every day," she sighs. "The Compostela pilgrimage route runs right by our town. I may do it by bike."
Even early birds find time to live life. Maybe even more time than the rest of us!
