Continue to Contribute: Lecture Series at Cambodia Mekong University

how to plan, manage and achieve their long-term academic and career goals.

After the exchange sessions with the students at both universities, there was also an FAAC alumni gathering session in the evening at Khemara Battambang Hotel, allowing the Fulbright alumni to be engaged in the FAAC community and to discuss how to further contribute to Cambodia‘s development. (Page 4 highlights the decisions from the session reported by Mr. Chan Sophal.)

On the second day of the educational exchange trip, the FAAC members and volunteers visited Banon Mountain as part of their cultural tour.

By Ms. Seng Chandaly & Mr. Sok Sovanchandara, FAAC volunteers & IFL graduates (2009)

T o promote our vision fostering peace and development in Cambodia

through the promotion of access to qual-ity education and cross-cultural under-standing, the Fulbright Alumni Associa-tion of Cambodia (FAAC) organized an educational trip to two universities in Bat-tambang Province on July 11-12, 2009.

The primary objective of the trip was to share the Fulbright experience and knowl-edge of expertise with the students of the University of Battambang and the Univer-sity of Management and Economics.

Joining the trip and the exchange ses-sions were 20 Fulbright alumni whose expertise ranged from education to busi-ness and economics and public health to engineering, nine FAAC volunteers, and Mr. Chau Sa, a representative of the U.S. Embassy‘s Public Affairs Section.

Hundreds of students from the two uni-versities gathered in two separate work-shops, where they were introduced to the Fulbright Scholarship program and then had the opportunity to converse in small groups with our alumni according to their field of interest.

―The discussion sessions were very in-

sightful for these young future scholars of Cambodia for the fact that they have received both information relevant to their field of study and inspirational en-couragement for their academic and career choice from our alumni mem-bers,‖ said Mr. Peou Chivoin, FAAC vice-president.

At the end of the sessions, the students asked numerous questions, most of which about how to be successful in academic life and the procedure to ap-ply for the Fulbright scholarship. The students expressed their enthusiasm from the start to finish, which showed that the trip was a rich source of inspira-tion for students who had learned about

O n June 19, 2009, Mr. Chan Virak, a Fulbright alumnus from San Jose

State University, held a lecture on ―Improving Your Writing Independently‖ to around 100 students at Cambodia Mekong University.

Mr. Virak started with an explanation on the concept of genres and a tool used to analyze them, followed by a demonstra-tion on how one could independently use the tool to look for the characteris-

tics of different text types to benefit their writing. Enthusiastic questions from the audience were asked during and at the end of the workshop.

The workshop was part of the Fulbright Alumni Association of Cambodia‘s lec-ture series program, conducted by Ful-bright alumni, free of charge, at univer-sities across Cambodia (See a photo from the lecture on page 4).

FAAC NEWSLETTEFAAC NEWSLETTEFAAC NEWSLETTERRR

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 ——— J U L YJ U L YJ U L Y ---S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9

Beyond Lecturing—Fulbright Alumni Educational Exchange Trip to Battambang

FULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSFULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSFULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF CAMBODIAOCIATION OF CAMBODIAOCIATION OF CAMBODIA (FAAC)(FAAC)(FAAC)

About Fulbright and FAAC:

FAAC is planning consultative lectures on university major selection in selected high schools throughout Cambodia.

More than 100 Cambodians have by now been granted the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue graduate degrees in the U.S. in various fields of expertise.

Inside this issue:

Selected Alumni Profile: Mr. Kim Sedara, Research Fellow 2

University Major & Career Choice for High School Students 3

Learning from Experience; 2009 Fulbright Home Returnees 3

Decisions from the Alumni Gathering in Battambang 4

FAAC members posed with students at the University of Battambang after exchange session

=> The Fulbright Lecture Series pro-gram provides a great chance for university students to meet face-to-face with a Fulbright Scholar who can inspire them with educational exchange experiences.

=> Contact FAAC to arrange a free Fulbright lecture or presentation by one or more of our alumni at your university or institution.

Main office: University of Puthisastra (FAAC Room, Ground Floor, Building A) Street 180 & 184, Boeng Rang, Doun Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel: (+855) 013 757 443 / 098 620 592 Email: camfulbrighters@gmail.com

Visit us online at: www.cambodiafulbrighters.org http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/faac.html

By Ms. Thon Sonina and Mr. Seap Ousphea, Depart-ment of Media and Communi-cation (DMC), FAAC Volun-teers

Mr. Kim Sedara is one of FAAC‘s pioneers and senior alumni. He is now a research fellow at the Cambodia Devel-opment Resource Institute (CDRI) and a Ph.D. candidate in Development and Political Science at Gotenborg Univer-sity, Sweden.

Q: Back when you graduated from high school, what made you choose to study Archae-ology?

A: Back in my days there weren‘t many choices. Our education system back then wasn‘t as open as now, and my biggest problem was my mathematics level. I was not good at math; to be precise, I was quite poor at it, so I de-cided to choose the subject which didn‘t involve mathe-matics.

Q: So this unexpected path led you to a bright and suc-cessful future?

A: Studying archeology was the best choice I‘ve ever made. I got to learn and un-derstand so much about our country‘s history and its de-velopment together with our original language and culture, as you can see until today not many Cambodians can read Pali.

Q: Why do you think you were granted the Fulbright Scholarship?

A: I count myself as one of the lucky persons because my English level at the time was pretty impressive com-pared to a lot of people during my generation. But that‘s not all. I was confident and knew what I really wanted to do in life, for my future career, to help myself and my country. In this case for those of you who really want to win the Fulbright Scholarship, you must carefully take a closer look at these important inten-tions—be confident, know your goal and what you will give back to your country for its better development. My criticism in general on the confidence issues is some-what related to our culture and more or less is given to the black history of the war during the Pol Pot regime. Having a clear goal, on the other hand, is one of the things that most of our gradu-ates today know, yet fail to perform, but they all know that the easiest commitment after achieving their degree is to contribute to their own soci-ety for the country‘s future development. However, the easiest thing became the most difficult thing to do. After accomplishing their short-term goal, they come back forgetting their promise. My point is, I think all Cambodian scholars, not only the Ful-brighters, should at least pay back 20 or 30 percent of their knowledge and time to the

society in order to help the country become a better de-veloped country, because I believe that high academic quality is the only key to the country‘s development.

Q: What is missing among the younger generation?

A: Starting from the bottom, what is missing in the younger generation today is ‗curiosity‘. Another is the lack of guidance in school, in the society, and in their lives. The last and most important point is they don‘t know how to use their time, especially young people from the age of 19—they waste most of their time on having fun and hang-ing-out with friends; they don‘t understand that it is during these ages of 19-28 that they should start plan-ning well and doing whatever it takes to result in a success-ful future.

Q: What is your biggest dis-appointment in life?

A: What I regret the most in my life, is back when I was in my early twenties, when I didn‘t really use all of my golden time, golden age, and means to study hard. Even if I‘m what I am today, I still think that I should have tried much harder back then, so now I want this to be a strong message to the younger gen-eration to grasp and hold on to this opportunity of your early twenties, because this is the time to work and build your own bright future.

To showcase the contributions our alumni have made to our nation, we are creating profile articles of our alumni. The second to feature in this profile series is Mr. Kim Sedara.

“… for those of you who really want to win the

Fulbright Scholarship, you must carefully take a

closer look at these important intentions—be

confident, know your goal and what you will give

back to your country for its better development.”

Page 2 F A A C N E W S L E T T E RF A A C N E W S L E T T E RF A A C N E W S L E T T E R

Mr. Kim Sedara, Fulbright Alumnus, Master in Social Economic Anthropology, Northern Illinois University (2001)

Brief Background:

1995: BA in Archaeology,

Royal University of Fine Arts, Cambodia

1995-1996: Graduate Pro-

gram at University of Ha-waii at Manoa, East West Center Scholarship

1999-2001: MA, Social

Economic Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, Fulbright Scholarship

2005-present: PhD candi-

date, Development and Political Science, Goten-borg University, Sweden, Swedish Government Scholarship

2001-present: Research

Fellow at Cambodia De-velopment Resource Insti-tute (CDRI)

ASPIRATIONS & ACHIEVEMENTASPIRATIONS & ACHIEVEMENTASPIRATIONS & ACHIEVEMENTSSS

Mr. Kim Sedara during a lecture on ―How to get ready for the Fulbright Scholarship‖ at a university in Kampong Cham, 2008.

“… it is during these ages of 19-28, that

they should start planning well and doing

whatever it takes to result in a successful

future.”

By Ms. Han Chansokhen, FAAC Vol-unteer & IFL graduate (2008)

T he University and Vocational Training Fare organized by Youth

Resource Development Program (YRDP) was held at the National Insti-tute of Education on September 04, 2009. The objective of the forum was to inform fresh high school graduates about choosing university majors, labor market and vocational training opportu-nities, among others. Hundreds of stu-dents from various high schools at-tended the event.

Mr. Chan Sophal, a Fulbright alumnus, was invited to be one of the guest speakers. His 25-minute speech touched on four areas: (1) factors to consider when choosing a university major; (2) how to be successful in study; (3) how to be successful in ca-reer; and (4) information about four scholarships offered by the U.S. gov-ernment.

During his speech, Mr. Sophal stressed that choosing a major de-pends on three factors: personal in-terest, job market and long-term goals. He encouraged high school graduates to take some time off in or-der to reflect on their personal interest in life. He added that by constantly asking ourselves about what we really like to study and do, we can avoid choosing a major that is not within our interest.

Personal interest per se is not enough. It needs to be linked to labor market and perhaps long-term life goals as well. Lacking information, some stu-

dents pursue their university degree without clear goals, which is a mis-take.

He moved on to address the issues related to success in learning. Based on his experience, he highlighted two points. First, to succeed academi-cally, one does not need to be very smart. The key is to get things done very early. In other words, when lec-turers assign us to do homework or to write papers, it is important to be fair and just to ourselves. And that means starting things very early so that we can have plenty of time to finish the tasks. Another key to aca-demic success is to learn to ask questions and to seek support when we encounter problems in learning. Sources of help include, but not lim-ited to, our professors, senior stu-dents, and classmates.

Mr. Sophal also mentioned the issue of ―successful employees‖. He pointed out four assets of successful workers. First, they are good commu-nicators. In other words, they need to explore ways to maintain rapport with others in the institution in which they work. Good relationship with others is a precondition for happy employees. Also, successful employees need to reflect on what legacy they wish to leave behind after having worked for a place for some time. They need to show that they have done something for their institution. They need to keep asking themselves, ―What leg-acy I wish to leave behind?‖. Addi-tionally, good workers need to con-tinuously learn and develop them-

selves. They need to acquire new knowledge, so that they will shine in their workplace. Finally, they need to care about those they work with. Time, energy, and some money should be allocated for others who are in need. This final factor will bring respect, love, and peace of mind. It is a part of our sharing and caring culture.

At the end of his speech, Mr. Sophal drew the audience‘s attention to four scholarships available for study in the United States: the Fulbright Scholar-ship, which leads to a Master‘s or Ph.D.; Global Undergraduate Exchange Program, which lasts one semester or one year; Study of the United States Institutes for Student Leaders, which lasts for five weeks; and East Asian Undergraduate Intensive English Lan-guage Study Program, which lasts for eight weeks. There are different re-quirements to be fulfilled before stu-dents can apply, but one common re-quirement is active involvement in com-munity services.

University Major, Career Choice: Tough Decision for High School Students

retrospect, I am satisfied with the time I spent there for the social environment and quality of educa-tion.

I had an invaluable chance to meet other people around the world so-cially and academically, and I was able to introduce Cambodia to my friends and professors. Traveling to surrounding places like Washington D.C., New York and Boston was also quite an experience. Academi-cally, I have become more confi-dent in doing fieldwork.

Now back home in Cambodia, I would like to make contribution to the community, which is one of FAAC‘s objectives. Lastly, I would like to encourage everyone to com-pete for the Fulbright scholarship. The competition is not easy yet it is not impossible.

By Mr. Chou Huot, MA in Economics, Syracuse University (2009)

Let me start by recalling some chal-lenges I faced

while I was in the U.S. One was cook-ing, something I had never done be-fore. Using public transportation – bus and subway – was another challenge as the maps, procedure and environ-ment were unfamiliar to me. The weather was also a challenge, as the gloomy winter and snow storm could be freezing and scary.

However, I feel that my academic suc-cess was worth all the challenges. In

Page 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

Mr. Chan Sophal, MEd, Educational Psychol-ogy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, speaks at the University and Vocational Training Fare at National Institute of Education (September 04).

Learning from Experience… Welcome Home 2009 Fulbright Returnees!

FAAC would like to gladly welcome our Fulbright scholars who returned home in 2009. Their current positions and affiliations are listed below:

1. Mr. Chou Huot, Economic Researcher, Economic Institute of Cambodia

2. Ms. Dek Dary, Associate, Frontier In-vestment & Development Partners

3. Ms. Dy Keokunthea, Health System Strengthening Coordinator, MediCam

4. Ms. Keo Kalyan, Program Analyst, UNDP-Phnom Penh

5. Mr. Hor Soknak, Lecturer, IFL (RUPP) 6. Ms. Pou Pich Rachana, Self-employed 7. Mr. Poev Vathana, PhD Student in

Structural Engineering, Virginia Tech 8. Ms. Ong Bopha, PhD Candidate in Cur-

riculum Studies and Teacher Development 9. Mr. Seang Soleak, Regional Commu-

nication Officer, Oxfam America 10.Mr. Thy Khemra, Research Analyst,

Tong Yang Securities Inc.

VISION: FOSTERING PVISION: FOSTERING PVISION: FOSTERING PEACE AND DEVELOPMENTEACE AND DEVELOPMENTEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN CAMBODIA THROUGH THE PROMOTION IN CAMBODIA THROUGH THE PROMOTION IN CAMBODIA THROUGH THE PROMOTION

OF ACCESS TO QUALITYOF ACCESS TO QUALITYOF ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION AND CROSSEDUCATION AND CROSSEDUCATION AND CROSS---CULTURAL UNDCULTURAL UNDCULTURAL UNDERSTANDINGERSTANDINGERSTANDING

FAAC CURRENT COMMITTEEFAAC CURRENT COMMITTEEFAAC CURRENT COMMITTEE

President: Mr. Theam Rottanak Vice-president: Mr. Peou Chivoin Treasurer: Mr. Om Soryong

Secretary General: Ms. Thon Vimealea

On the left Top: Fulbright alumni spoke at the University of Battambang during the exchange trip on July 11-12, 2009.

Middle: Fulbright alumni spoke at the University of Manage-ment during the ex-change trip on July 11-12, 2009.

Bottom: Mr. Chan Virak gave a lecture at Cambodia Mekong University on June 19.

On the right Top: Mr. Chau Sa appreciated Fulbright Alumni and FAAC vol-unteers for their efforts to help and support FAAC activities during the alumni meeting in Battambang on July 11, 2009.

Middle: FAAC mem-bers and volunteers during lunch in Battam-bang Province.

Bottom: FAAC mem-bers and volunteers posed on Banon Mountain on July 12.

FAAC appreciates all alumni and volunteers who have contributed articles for the newsletter. Please send

other articles to be published in the next issues to: camfulbrigters@gmail.com !

The U.S. EmbassyThe U.S. EmbassyThe U.S. Embassy

is the main supporter of FAAC community and

its activities.

AT OUR FAAC AT OUR FAAC AT OUR FAAC

OFFICE,OFFICE,OFFICE,

1. We offer general information about the Fulbright Alumni Association of Cambodia and its activities.

2. We provide information and advice on available over-seas scholarship programs.

3. We assist students in searching and preparing for scholarship programs.

4. We provide consultation (upon appointment request) on academic issues, career goals, and the like.

5. We offer most updated infor-mation on the Fulbright Pro-gram and FAAC lecture series.

6. And more...

Decisions from Alumni Gathering during Exchange Trip in BattambangDecisions from Alumni Gathering during Exchange Trip in BattambangDecisions from Alumni Gathering during Exchange Trip in Battambang

1. Re-engagement of all FAAC members: We agreed that an outreach mechanism and a good plan of activities are needed to re-connect other Fulbright alumni to contribute more actively to the FAAC‘s activities and other community services.

2. Publication: FAAC has published 2,000 copies of its first newsletter and 5,000 copies of its second, third and fourth issues in 2009. In the near future, FAAC will update and publish its handbook as well.

3. Alumni gathering: We plan to get together twice a year. First, a gathering will be avail-able to welcome those who have returned home after completing their study in the U.S. Finally, a gathering will be held to congratulate and farewell those who are about to depart for academiic and social journey to the U.S.

4. Inclusiveness: For its future activities, FAAC would also invite U.S. Fulbright scholars and Humphrey alumni to join.

5. Reaching out to high school as well as university students: FAAC will focus more on high school students. An important reason is that high school students might have problems with choosing majors when they are preparing for their university study.

6. More community services: It was proposed that FAAC‘s activities should also be closely linked to community services. Tree planting is one example.

7. FAAC’s website update: We need IT expert(s) to help us update our website and con-tinuously maintain it.

8. Alumni Coordinator: FAAC will work closely with the Alumni Coordinator of the U.S. Embassy to increase FAAC and other alumni activities.

Reported by Mr. Chan Sophal, 2004 Fulbright Alumnus