In this installment of “Ask Me Another,” Sarah Gould ’17 discusses her experience in Mongolia as a Fulbright Fellow. Gould, one of two UMF graduates teaching abroad this year as Fulbright recipients, is stationed at National University in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where she teaches English to college sophomores.
Sarah Gould ’17 enjoys the rarefied air in Mongolia’s Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.
You’re no stranger to travel and experiencing culture up close and personal. You majored in Global Studies at UMF and participated in course-related travel to Austria, Germany and Peru. You also spent your junior year abroad in UMF’s exchange program at the Universite du Maine Le Mans, studying French language and culture as well as teaching English. What have been some of the bigger surprises on this adventure?
Having traveled quite a bit, I am used to people not knowing where I am from. Most of the time I either keep it simple or say ‘I am from near Boston’ or ‘north of New York’ because everyone knows the general location of those cities. Unfortunately, Maine is not very known internationally! That said, day one of school I walk into the classroom and there is a student wearing a “Maine” sweatshirt. Later on, I went to the American-style butcher that expats frequent. We laughed when we figured out that he is from Berwick, which is right near my hometown. Even in the middle of Mongolia, there are small links to home that remind me how truly small and connected our world is.
How would you describe your host community in Ulaanbaatar?
During the Soviet era, Ulaanbaatar, or UB for short, was built for about 600,000 people. Now around 1.3 million people — one third of the entire population — call it home, and the city continues to grow every year. In the city center, UB features a mix of modern and Soviet architecture. But only a few minutes outside the center, communities of ger districts, made up of the traditional Mongolian gers (yurts), spread for miles. As families decide to leave their traditional nomadic lifestyle behind for better opportunities in the city, the ger districts grow. Among the biggest problems in Mongolia is providing electricity, plumbing, and access to heating for these areas and their residents.
Gould ’17 with fellow National University faculty members in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city, where she teaches English to college sophomores.
What have been some of the bigger challenges during your Fulbright experience?
Things here in Mongolia can best be described as a work-in-progress. Amenities that are standard in my life back home simply don’t exist here. For example, because the laundry machine was out of commission for two months, I had to wash clothes in a trash bin — lined with a clean trash bag — and then rinse them in the shower. That was an experience. The language has been difficult, but I am now a master at charades. I think the biggest challenge by far is the smog that envelops the city every day in the winter. UB is consistently among the top-five most polluted cities in the world. With no heating in the ger districts, people burn coal, tires, and trash to keep warm, which — along with many cars — makes the air literally toxic. I walk to school wearing a mask with a filter, and I have to keep an air purifier going in my dorm every day. It’s very hard to adjust to, especially coming from a place like Maine, where the air is much cleaner.
How have you been integrated into your host community during the experience thus far?
I’m in an interesting position here. I am a teacher, but I am nearly the same age as many of my students. Sometimes that makes it a challenge to know where I fit in. I must say that I really appreciate everyone’s eagerness to provide me with opportunities to experience Mongolian culture. I have had the opportunity to go on outings to the Mongolian Opera and I have had students and friends invite me to their homes for birthdays and holidays. Some have even been thoughtful enough to share dried milk curds and boiled cow tongue with me. There’s nothing like trying local cuisine!
Is there anything that’s happened in your interactions with students and/or their parents that has let you know you’re making a big difference in their lives?
One of the most memorable moments I have had here was helping one of my students with a scholarship application. She is a very hardworking student and made an effort to speak in class which was something I always appreciate. One day she stopped by my desk in the office to ask for help reviewing her application. From 5:30 until almost 9 p.m., she wrote and rewrote her essay with my guidance until we considered it perfect. As I was packing up to leave she confided in me that she had been thinking about not coming back to school because paying tuition was hard for her. She began crying and was embarrassed, but she was grateful for my help. The next weekend she emailed me saying that she had gotten the scholarship. There are times when I doubt if anyone will actually remember the vocabulary or pronunciation lessons I teach them. But to be able to help a student stay in school and get closer to a diploma is something I am proud of.
“I went on a dog-sledding trip in late November in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. I underestimated the strength of 13 excited huskies, but it was a memorable way to see the beauty of this country.”
How has the experience thus far changed your perspective on teaching, as well as your own career goals/interests?
It’s quite ironic that I ended up here. For most of my life I did everything I could not to become a teacher like everyone else in my family. I attempted to be the outlier, but clearly fate had other ideas. This experience has been such an eye opener for me. I’ve always appreciated the work and dedication teachers put into their jobs, and I have tried to do the same for my students. I try to make myself as available to my students as I can, whether that is staying late to go over applications or meeting up on the weekends at a cafe to practice conversation skills. Recently, I was asked to help evaluate applications for an embassy exchange program. Looking at the applications, I realized that my selection will change the lives of several people by giving the opportunity to study abroad. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.
What are your post-Fulbright plans?
I am currently in the process of working on several graduate school applications. My senior year at UMF, I really discovered my interest in migration and the treatment of refugees. With that experience in mind, I have decided to pursue a degree in Refugee and Forced Migration studies. Throughout the spring, I will be applying to Oxford University in England, the University of Kent in Brussels, Aalborg University in Denmark, and London South Bank University in London.
What motivated you to pursue the Fulbright opportunity in the first place? Were you inspired to do so by any experience at UMF, in or out of the classroom?
There are those things in life that seem to come out of the blue and you have to choose in the moment whether or not you are going to keep moving forward on the same path or take a leap in a new direction. Fulbright was the latter. I had heard from peers and professors about the program but the review of applications began while I was still studying abroad. So I put things on the back burner until I returned to UMF. By the time I moved back to Farmington, I was down to less than a month before the application was due and figured it just wasn’t an option. In talking with Professor Linda Beck, Professor Anne Marie Wolf, and then Honors Director (now Provost) Eric Brown, I was encouraged to give it a shot. Without their support, I am pretty sure I would have talked myself out of trying. Two weeks after all is not exactly the ideal time frame in which to complete a Fulbright application. I’m glad I persevered.
How did your UMF experience position you for success as a Fulbright Fellow?
My sophomore year at UMF I had the privilege of traveling to Peru with Professors Luke and Nicole Kellett for a travel course. I fell in love with Peru during that adventure. Sometimes we stayed in very rural areas with few modern amenities. I learned how to accept — and try, with gratitude — whatever food I was given, and how to go with the flow when things inevitably go awry. I also learned that it is possible to connect with people even when you have no common language. That trip truly was among the best introductions to those lessons that are serving me well in Ulaanbaatar.
Fulbright Fellowships are highly competitive. What would you say to current UMF students who might think this kind of opportunity is an impossibility?
I think above all else do not psych yourself out! Fulbright is a prestigious program with incredible alumni, but Fulbrighters come from all over the world and from various backgrounds. Why shouldn’t they come from a school in Farmington, Maine? If you work hard, are passionate about the country you are applying to, and ready for a life-changing adventure, take a chance and apply.
“There were several things on my bucket list to do here, one of which was to hold a golden eagle. They are incredibly majestic birds and a very special part of life in the western part of the country where people use the eagles to hunt.”