Anja Hoffmann

by Taras Tkatchenko

Blonde hair, calm outlook and slight accent are the easiest noticeable features of this student's appearance. Anja Hoffman, 26, is an international student from Bavaria, Germany, who has longed desired to widen her horizons by studying abroad. "It was my dream to study in the United States," she says, but it was an organization known as Fulbright Association that let this fantasy come true.

Fulbright Association is a USA-based, but operating worldwide, center for student exchange. It grew out of the program started in 1946 by Senator Fulbright to facilitate the interaction between different cultures. To that end, the Association provides financial aid to perspective students with a desire to see the world both in the United States and abroad. Ms. Hoffman is the only Fulbright Student at Adelphi, as the Association's requirements are quite strict. Not only academic success, but also leadership skills and willingness to participate in extra-curriculum activities are expected from the selected students. "That's what differs Fulbright from other student exchange organizations," Ms. Hoffman said, meaning the Association's constant effort to bring together different cultures.

Luckily for her, Anja Hoffman fully satisfies the requirements. Having graduated from the Swuerzburg University as an International Business major, Ms. Hoffman possesses a strong interest in geopolitics, especially concerned with the Middle East conflict. This correlates directly to her choice of profession, as she strives to attain a Master degree in Human Resources Management. Her other interests include sports (volleyball and "a little bit" of karate), piano and flute playing as well as writing. Both her musical and writing skills have earned Ms. Hoffman several prizes in Germany, the most significant being perhaps the 1st prize at the European Writing Contest in 1990.

Though Ms. Hoffman has been to the United States before (she visited the country in 1992, studying English at Harvard University), as a Fulbright student she received an opportunity to study abroad full-time. Adelphi was among her five top-choice American universities, as it has been advertised often enough, and it was Adelphi where she was determined to go. The financial aid provided by Fulbright Association has its price, and when it comes to choosing one's place of study, "Fulbright students don't have much choice", Ms. Hoffman confessed. The organization's policy is to distribute foreign students evenly in the United States so that the cultural exchange would be maximal, and thus one is never certain where he will be sent. Even the option of choosing between five universities is relatively new, having been implemented only a year ago. Of course, with the Fulbright scholarship covering all of the tuition and some of the housing and boarding expenses, a measure of conditions could be expected.

Even though it wasn't exactly her desire to get into this very university, Ms. Hoffman is pleased with the situation. "I really like it here at Adelphi," she said, adding that she liked the multitude of different cultures. "There aren't so many international students in Germany. We don't have that much diversity". While not forced to live on campus, Ms. Hoffman greatly prefers to do so, because as a resident "you are not by yourself, you get to know people." Familiarizing herself with different types of thinking and doing things, along with the accumulation of knowledge, is Ms. Hoffman's most important goal at Adelphi. So it is not surprising that her new friends are mostly other international students. Not only do they provide different worldviews but they are also in a similar position. "There is a sense of community, because we are all apart from our countries, friends and families," Ms. Hoffman said. "Though it doesn't mean I like every international student, of course."

Anja Hoffman's free time is said to be free from only one thing - idleness, as she continues with her many extra-curricular interests. Enjoying the cultural differences and getting to know the United States as she does, however, Ms. Hoffman will only stay at Adelphi for a relatively short period, then having to find another source of new knowledge and impressions. "Fulbright only provides a scholarship for a year," she explained. Wherever she may go after that, Ms. Hoffman seems certain to anticipate even more fresh information about other cultures. As for the other Adelphi Students, the Fulbright Association can be reached via the Office of the International Student Services in the University Center. Perhaps Fulbright will provide them with a rare chance to go out into the huge world and see what is out there.