Without the Fulbright Program, I never would have ended up applying to the Central European University. The friendships and memories I made during my time with Fulbright Austria will always be some of the sweetest that I have.
I was able to play the amazing organs in Austria and at the same time travel with our pop group and become thoroughly immersed in Austrian culture. The experiences I received in Austria continue to shape the way I perform, teach, and direct.
"As Mark Twain said, 'Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…' Surely, the best way that we can work to break down stereotypes and mutual misunderstandings is through living abroad, experiencing other ways of life, and directly interacting with people whose backgrounds and experiences differ from our own. This is one of the reasons that the Fulbright Program is so important."
"I have made invaluable connections through the Fulbright Program that have affected my life positively, sometimes in unexpected ways."
"The year... was the most memorable and rewarding, one both for my forty-two-year career as a professor, and for my marriage!"
"It is easy to overlook the necessity of a program like the Fulbright whose effects are not always easily quantifiable in numbers, output or economically. But after my experiences as a grantee there is absolutely no question of the grave importance of the Fulbright program."
"As a direct result of my Vienna study, I completed my Stanford University dissertation on, and performed five of Mozart’s Concert Arias..."
"I owe my career to my Austrian Fulbright stay."
"This year proved not only to be the basis for a whole new perspective on academics, music, the arts, on life, but also paved the way for my future. Without having had this international experience from which I learned about a new culture, perfected a new language, was introduced to new ways of thinking, I would have never become the open‐minded, tolerant, internationally involved academic and artist that I have become."
"The city's white landmarks were soaked in sunlight. As my taxi driver and I made our way in the early morning hours through Vienna's serpentine streets, we unwound from the city center the same way the districts unfold, like the spirals of a shell. I traced the historic route around the Ringstrasse to find myself amidst the cultural crossroads that is Vienna."
"Many of my scholarly activities (conferences I organize, joint research) would not have been possible without the chances the Fulbright program offered me. And I dare say I have paid back some of it by speaking at American Universities and telling American students about Austria and Austrian culture..."
"I am ever so grateful to the Fulbright program and to the people who make it possible for my love of Austria, their literature, their history, their music and culture..."
"All of this would not have been possible without this important time that I spent in Austria."
"[I] taught several courses on Balkan history to American students during the 1990s, when the Balkan region was in the news every night. Without the generosity of the program, I would not have had the same grasp on that history ..."
"During my first year as a USTA, I was assigned to a Gymnasium that both students and teachers described to me as one of the city's worst. That wasn't at all my experience."
"Looking at the pictures from a recent Austrian Studies Conference I hosted ..., I am reminded of the importance of the support of the Fulbright for so many scholars of Austrian Studies."
"It struck me in that moment, that being a Fulbrighter—a "cultural and academic ambassador" with the mission of mutual understanding between cultures—is tied directly to Dr. King's message, and I would be the messenger of that dream..."
"My career, my personal life, it’s all hard to imagine without the opportunities afforded to me by Fulbright Austria..."
"...my year was filled to the brim with amazing and wonderful events and people, and opened a world for me that I would never have known otherwise..."
"When the 1986 Fulbrighters were graciously offered a chance to meet with then President Kirschläger, we were each allowed to ask him a question..."
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