Page 64 - 2021-Mag-88-2

World Fellowship
International students at Lehigh prepared national dishes to
share their home cultures.
Florida. Zhanar and her friends enjoyed the new
lifestyle and atmosphere of South Beach. In
February, a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, was on
the schedule. Zhanar enjoyed the tour at Columbia
Recording Studio A and a rock and roll concert.
She loved all the cafes with their live music!
March arrived with a pandemic! The
coronavirus was all over the news, and everything
was closing. Classes became virtual, and wearing
a mask everywhere was the new norm! Zhanar
shared a house with a few other exchange students, more interesting and fun! When Zhanar returns
so at least she was not alone. New worries
and concerns about family, friends, what was
happening, and what was the plan arose. As spring
semester continued with all online courses, Zhanar with the Teacher Development Organization to
learned that she would not be able to return home
for the summer. With her ever-present positive
attitude and dedication to making the best of
every situation, Zhanar enrolled in courses for
the summer term. Her thoughts—”I might as well
continue with my studies”—demonstrated her
positive perspective.
During the summer months, Zhanar and her
friends took hikes, visited Jim Thorpe, Lehigh
Valley Zoo, and Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania.
Zhanar read many books, watched lots of movies
or TV sitcoms, and of course Zoomed with family
and friends to keep in touch!
Eileen Little is president of Pennsylvania State Organization (2019–2021) and a member of the International World Fellowship Committee.
62 · Volume 88-2
Year 2 at Lehigh
The fall and spring terms of Zhanar’s second
year were virtual, and she was disappointed not
to meet and interact in a classroom with other
students face to face. Working on a master’s
degree in special education, Zhanar had had the
opportunity to visit classrooms and observe what
she was learning being utilized during the fall
term in 2019. With the pandemic, this was no
longer possible. Many of the exchange students
had returned to their home countries; only two
Fulbright scholars remained at Lehigh University.
Ever positive, Zhanar continued with her
studies, completed assignments, read books,
watched more movies and TV sitcoms, and
Zoomed with friends and family. She shared
that, through this experience, her self-esteem
improved, and the professors at Lehigh were
excellent. Some of her favorite courses were
Behavior Management and Assessment of
Special Education. She loved learning all
the interventions and discipline strategies in
behavioral management. The professor for
Assessment of Special Education made the boring
to Kazakhstan, she hopes to implement inclusion
practices in her country, which currently has no
special schools for special students, and to work
share what she has learned with other teachers or
maybe teach at a university.
With travel coming back in spring 2021,
Zhanar went to a garden in Philadelphia to see
the cherry blossoms and to New York City to
see the Statue of Liberty. She is impressed with
how Americans respect their history and preserve
buildings and things that tell their story.
This great adventure was just a dream for so
many years! Zhanar would never have believed
that she would have gotten this opportunity. She
is very grateful for all the cards and notes of
encouragement from DKG members. The personal
and professional growth that a DKG International
World Fellowship and Fulbright helped to provide
created an experience of a lifetime!