MACIE Grads

From:

Mosul, Iraq

Current Job:

Science/Biology Middle School Teacher at Canadian International School in Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

My passion has constantly been expanding my experience and skills to assist the next generation in becoming successful. In my current position as a teacher, I am using everything that I have learned from the MACIE Program to do that.

Teaching at the Canadian International School, one of the top international schools in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with international accreditation from the British Council and Cognia is a unique experience because it provides a chance to work with students from all over the world and to inspire students to contribute to their communities and the rest of the world.

This is one of the milestones that I enjoyed the most during my time at BGSU and the diversity the campus offered.

MACIE program expands my knowledge and skills to become a cross-cultural educator. I am so thankful for all the help and support that I received during my MACIE journey, especially from my academic advisor Dr. Bruce Collet.

In the Future:

I would love to share what I have learned and contribute back to the community, and I would love to do that by becoming an educational consultant in one of the many great international schools.

From:

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Further Education:

I am a member of NAFSA, and spent May/June of 2020 taking some of their online courses on F1/J1 student advising and career preparation.

Current Job:

On October 21, 2020, I will have completed one year at my current position as a Student Services Coordinator in the Department of Linguistics and Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Michigan School of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts (LSA). I predominantly do student advising, work with PhD students on GA/RA contracts and payments, and also help oversee expanding our study abroad engagement and career preparation initiatives.

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

I am enormously thankful to the MACIE program for providing me with incredibly rigorous academic and professional training. Under the tutelage of faculty such as Dr. Collet and Dr. Galletta, I grew so much as both an academic writer and researcher. My time working with Dr. Lavery informed me about the collaborative nature of academic research, and he really treated me as a colleague and an equal, even though I was only a research assistant.

I am indebted to MACIE for also helping me to find the perfect Graduate Assistantship in the International Programs and Partnerships Office. My work with Education Abroad made me a much more competitive and experienced candidate when entering the professional workforce. MACIE's training has helped me to adopt an intercultural and global mindset in all aspects of my life, be it from advocating for more accessible study abroad programming and policies, to better understanding the problems and challenges that higher education institutions are facing today. If you are a student who is looking for a master's program that will support your passions and interests, MACIE is the place for you.

In the Future:

I am hoping to attempt to find a job in Germany sometime starting in Fall of 2021 or in Spring of 2022 be applying for their jobseeker visa.

From:

Avon Lake, Ohio

Further Education:

MS in Analytics Degree at BGSU University (In progress in 2020)

Previous Jobs:

Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) with the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program (2019-2020)

Current Job:

Graduate student in Analytics at BGSU

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

MACIE was an experience I will never forget: students, faculty, classes, internships and so much more. In the program, I worked on two prominent international programs—Washington Mandela Fellowship and Teaching Excellence and Achievement. Imagine working alongside the best and brightest teachers, entrepreneurs, and community activists around the world. You don’t get these kinds of opportunity anywhere.

After graduation, and with the recommendations and network of MACIE staff, I accepted a job as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) with the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program. I taught in Nagasaki at five schools from 3^rd to 9^th grade for two years. Without MACIE, I seriously wonder whether I’d have been selected for the position.

Now, I am back at BGSU to pursue a degree in Analytics. This leads me to the final aspect of the MACIE I want to highlight—its flexibility. Surprisingly perhaps, my cognate in the program was Mathematics. As you can imagine, this is not a common cognate, but working with my MACIE advisor; we sorted the class schedule out and talked through the necessary coursework step-by-step. All of this allowed me to continue down a fulfilling path I am still traveling.

From:

Lima, Ohio

Current Job: 

Student services manager at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which involves coordinating all of the graduate programs in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

I learned so many amazing skills from the MACIE program. A few exceptionally relevant things I learned were how to be a good consumer of research and how to be a strong writer. Also, I learned how to look at issues in a conceptual way and apply theoretical frames to real-life issues. Learning about the social and cultural foundations of education changed the way I think about the world.

This might sound cliché, but definitely take time for yourself during graduate school. There are a lot of pressures and you could easily work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It is important to have fun outside of the academy! Don't be afraid to ask for help or to admit when you don't know something. Everyone is always learning!

From:

Lilongwe, Malawi

Further Education:

Ph.D. Student in Education Policy and Leadership (International Education concentration) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (in progress in 2020)

Previous Jobs:

Co-founder at Loving Arms Malawi, a nonprofit that supports girls' education

Youth Delegate to the United Nations for the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asian Women's Association

Current Job:

I am currently a Ph.D. Student in Education Policy and Leadership (International Education concentration) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. My doctoral research focuses on women and girls’ education, particularly on school (re)integration of pregnant learners and student mothers, pregnancy-related policies and the relationship between gender, education and development in African contexts. Currently, I am serving as a research associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center for the 2020/21 academic year. For the Fall 2020 semester, I taught a First Year Seminar on exploring gender and education in Africa and S. Asia at UMass Amherst. 

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

During my time at BGSU, the MACIE program not only immersed me into research inquiry, but it also had the flexibility that allowed me to specialize my work on gender and education with a regional focus on Africa. I took several courses, both qualitative and quantitative, that helped me to gain significant research experience that prepared me for further studies in a doctoral program. I completed my MACIE program by doing a specialization in educational development and marginalized populations which helped me to be grounded both in theory and practice, and I was able to apply what I learnt not just in my master’s thesis, but also in the work I do with Loving Arms in Malawi.

I am thankful for the support I got from my academic advisors, Dr. Frey and Dr. Bang, and all the faculty in the program because their support helped me succeed during my time at BGSU—it also prepared me for my professional life after MACIE!

From:

Djizak, Uzbekistan

Currently based in:

Lexington, Virginia

Current Job: 

Local volunteer in Lexington, Virginia, assisitng with fundraising and patient care

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

MACIE program and its faculty provided me with so many wonderful opportunities to learn and grow professionally and personally. A great aspect of the program is that it offers strong theoretical foundation and opportunities for practical application of the knowledge acquired. Working as a graduate research assistant on a longitudinal research project with Dr. Margaret Z. Booth, I have learned about complexities of conducting quantitative and qualitative research. In addition to working on quantitative and qualitative data organization and analysis, I developed such practical skills as creating a research project website, creating an online survey using the Qualtrics software, organizing a research conference, and working in a team with other researchers. That experience allowed me to successfully conduct my own research on the family role in the youth academic achievement and write a master’s thesis.

My internship experience with the local non-profit organization serving international community was an excellent way to apply theoretical knowledge and improve my cross-cultural skills. I was lucky to be part of the IREX Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program sponsored by the MACIE faculty and to meet so many remarkable teachers from around the globe, who shared their unique experiences and expertise in education.

The professional and personal connections built with professors and fellow students from the MACIE program and from other departments across the campus impacted me in so many important ways. MACIE has been one of the most influential educational experiences in my life. Although I finished my coursework in  the Fall of 2016, it took me four years to complete my master’s thesis, so I finally graduated in December 2020. This was a long, but rewarding process.

From:

El Paso, Texas

Further Education:

Graduated with a Phd in Multicultural and Equity Studies in Education at Ohio State University in 2016

Previous Jobs:

Peace Corps Volunteer, serving as an ESL teacher in Kazakhstan

Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative for an immigration non-profit organization in El Paso, Texas

Current Job:

Assistant professor in Chicano and Latin American Studies at Fresno State University, California 

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

MACIE helped me figure out that I had a unique contribution to make to scholarship, [and] I had a voice that reflected the experiences of many people like myself, but without speaking on their behalf. They have an organically diversified the student body in such a way that it reflects the mission of MACIE….. You have students that have very important international experience, bringing that to the classroom here. You are not only living in theory, in curriculum, but able to connect the dots in a program that has produced scholars, advocates, administrators, and educators. MACIE has really gotten a hold of what they want to produce; a variety of globally and socially conscious minded individuals.

From:

Dayton, Ohio

Further Education:

Graduated with PhD in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019

Awards: Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship at UIUC, 2015-2017

Previous Jobs:

English Language Fellow, Turkey (2013-2014)

Adjunct Instructor of English as a Second Language, BGSU (2014-2015)

Assistant Director of the African Studies Program at University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019-2020)

Current Job:

At my current job, as a Faculty Associate in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I create and teach workshops about academic writing and English language conventions, teach English writing courses, lead writing groups, work with students one-on-one, and work with faculty and instructors across campus to support them in their ability to support non-native speakers of English.

What I learned from the MACIE Program:

MACIE well-prepared me for the next steps of my academic and professional career in several ways, but more broadly, it widened my worldview in general and changed the way that I think and talk about issues both within and outside of the field of international education. Academically, I was well-prepared to take on PhD level research. Professionally, as a teacher, I became more critical of policies and practices and became a better supporter of and advocate for my students.

Beyond what I learned in courses, the faculty at MACIE provided me with a model for how to teach and engage with my students. In my current role as Faculty Associate with the Writing Center at UW-Madison, I draw on what I learned in MACIE coursework and research, and my understanding of what I learned in the MACIE program continues to evolve daily. More importantly, I think, MACIE provided a supportive and close-knit community of peers and faculty who helped me build confidence that allowed me to continue to a PhD and now a university teaching position that I love and from which I can make a positive impact on my community.