Dr. Mamadou KONE, Dr. Belinda MAMBO, Ms. Makaela ANDERSON, and Mr. Gaoussou TIMITE.
To acknowledge the International Education Week, a half-day US Graduate School Discussion Forum was held at IUGB for more than 100 junior and senior undergraduate students. In partnership with EducationUSA, US Embassy in Abidjan, this initiative was designed to furnish students with takeaway strategies for “taking the next step” and applying to US graduate schools. It successfully brought together an eclectic array of perspectives on the international education experience.
Broadcasted on US Embassy Facebook Live, the Department of State English Language Fellows (Elaine Kerry, IUGB UPP Instructor and Makaela Anderson, Felix Houphouet-Boigny University) gave a presentation on personal branding and how to integrate one’s “brand story” into a graduate school application.
One of the main objectives was to get across to the audience that successful admission into master’s and Ph.D. programs in the U.S. involves so much more than just “a transcript and an essay”. This was complemented by two panels. The first was a four-person IUGB faculty panel who each offered graduate application advice based on their own respective experiences. Moderated by Dr. Mamadou Kone, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, the panel included Dr. Priscilla Mambo, Assistant Professor of Economics, Dr. Chucks Kalu, Assistant Professor of Marketing, and Mr. Gaoussou Timite, Lecturer of Computer Science). Makaela Anderson also took part in the panel.
It was followed by a panel discussion made up of the six US Fulbright English Teaching Assistants and the Fulbright Public Policy Fellow. The topic focused on “Cultural Survival 101” in the U.S. for international students. Prior to closing, the floor was opened up to the audience for a question & answer session and closing remarks by Prof. Ahmed Legrouri, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Featured photo – Front row: Ms. Olivia Domowitz, Ms. Paige Selber, Ms. Paige Selber, and Ms. Annika Tice, Fulbright English Teaching Assistants; Fulbright Public Policy Fellow Nadira Branch. Back row: Ms. Elaine Kerry and Ms. Makaela Anderson, English Language Fellows; Chris Hassan, Ms. Liv Lyman, and Mr. Noah Barnett, ETAs, and Ms. Nina Toyo, EducationUSA advisor.