Molly Wancewicz was a 2023-2024 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Belgium. In 2021, she graduated summa cum laude from Rice University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History. After graduating, she joined Teach for America and spent two years as a sixth grade English teacher in the Houston Independent School District. She continued her interactions with students in her two ETA placements in Brussels. Outside of the classroom, Molly focused on improving her French, pursuing her academic interests in workers’ rights and labor policy, and heading to law school in fall 2024.
Q: “Describe your experiences as an ETA in Belgium”
I was placed at two organizations in Brussels. My first placement was Go! Technisch Atheneum Zavelenberg, a Dutch-speaking high school focused on career and technical education. Here, I co-taught an English communication class, and I taught an English for healthcare course to students going to Finland to work as home healthcare aides. I also worked at the Francophone after-school tutoring program run by the Organisation Internationale pour la Réussite et le Développement (OIRD), where I taught students of various ages — one of my classes had students as young as 3 years old and one had students as old as 20! One of my favorite projects was establishing a pen-pal program between my students at OIRD and the students of one of my former coworkers in Houston. She teaches newcomers, which are students who have just emigrated to the United States and are learning English for the first time. It was awesome to read the students’ letters and see them bonding over the shared experience of learning English as a second language!
Q: “What inspired you to apply to the ETA Fulbright Program in Belgium?”
Before Fulbright, I was working as an English teacher in the Houston Independent School District. I taught students with diverse first languages, from Spanish to Pashto, so I couldn’t rely on traditional ESL tools like bilingual dictionaries or cognate walls. I was very interested by the innovative teaching methods that I learned when teaching this population, so I wanted to explore them further in an international setting. Belgium, with its interplay between French and Dutch, seemed like the ideal place to explore these language teaching methods further, and Fulbright allowed me to live and work abroad with more of a support system than I would have had in another teaching job.
Q: “Describe a typical day in your life.”
I work a relatively non-traditional schedule for a teacher. I get up in the morning, have coffee and breakfast at home, and then head to BasicFit for a quick workout. I prefer to visit the women-only BasicFit in my neighborhood. Then, I head home, take a shower, and sit down at my kitchen table and plan and prepare materials for the class I am teaching that afternoon. Sometimes, I’ll go to a coffee shop instead and do my work there, especially if the weather is nice. Once I’m ready to teach, I usually have a few hours to do errands — go to the market or the store — or to do something entertaining, like visit one of the museums in Brussels. (I bought the Belgian Museum Pass, so I can visit basically any museum for free). In the late afternoon, I head to work and teach for a few hours. Then, I go home, make dinner, and use the evening hours either to socialize with friends in Brussels or to catch up with friends and family back home via FaceTime or phone call.
Q: “In what ways have you engaged with your host community in Belgium?”
In the fall, I joined a recreational volleyball team, and through the team I’ve made some great friends. Most of my teammates are European but not Belgian, and they’ve moved to Brussels for various reasons, so I enjoy staying after games and talking to them about their experiences over drinks. Of course, I interact with my coworkers and my students, but it’s also really valuable to have these interactions outside of the professional context. I enjoy being able to speak casually with other adults about the differences between the US and other European countries, and our different experiences moving to Belgium. For some of my teammates, I’m the only American they’ve ever met, so it’s an opportunity for me to share a nuanced perspective on life in the US in an informal context.
Q:”Can you tell us the story of a particular memorable moment(s) from your time in Belgium?”
One night in October, a stray cat showed up at the back door of my apartment, and he just never left. My roommate (another Fulbrighter) and I started to feed him and gave him flea medicine, and we named him Léo. We slowly started to allow him inside, and he became our cat for the year! It was so nice to have a pet to snuggle during the dark and gray days of winter. My roommate actually found a Fulbright alumna living in Namur who will be adopting Léo at the end of our grant.
Q: “Has Belgium been what you expected? In what ways has life in Belgium surprised you, either for its similarities to or differences from your own culture?”
I didn’t really know what to expect, because I hadn’t been to Belgium before starting my grant. However, I was definitely worried that it would be hard to make friends and make connections, because I’d heard that Belgians could be closed off and might not be interested in making new friends. Although the culture surrounding meeting new people was different than in the U.S., and many people were more reticent than I was used to, I met lots of Belgians who were open and wanted to make friends! This was especially true when I met Belgians who were in their mid-20s like me. I also had nice interactions with strangers, from a barista who offered to practice French with me to a couple who escorted me home when I was walking alone late at night.
I was also honestly quite surprised that so many prominent events, such as concerts from international artists, would come to such a small country. During my time in Belgium, I went to the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and witnessed Simone Biles becoming the most decorated gymnast of all time. I also saw Olivia Rodrigo perform in concert, among other events.
Q: “What has been your favorite “discovery” in Belgium?”
I discovered tomates mi-séchées, which are half dried tomatoes! They’re marinated in garlic, olive oil, and spices, and they are so delicious with a fresh baguette. There are lots of American foods that I miss, but I’ll definitely miss tomates mi-séchées when I go back to the U.S.
Q: “What will you do after your Fulbright grant? In what ways has your experience in Belgium this year impacted your plans for the future?”
Next year, I will be starting my J.D. at Stanford Law School, and I’m hoping to pursue a career in labor law. I applied to law school from Belgium, including taking the LSAT and completing interviews. This was daunting, especially with the time difference for virtual interviews and testing internationally. However, I was able to do it, and Fulbright was really accommodating when I needed to travel back to the U.S. for admitted students weekends and scholarship interviews.
Law school was my plan before Fulbright, but living and teaching in Belgium gave me more context about labor law and workers’ rights around the world. In addition, almost all of my interviewers asked me about Fulbright and living in Belgium in my law school interviews. I think that being able to articulate how I navigated the challenges of moving to a new country helped my applications.
Q: “What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying to the Fulbright Program?”
If you have the opportunity to become a Fulbrighter, I highly recommend allowing yourself as much free time as your work or study schedule allows. I know that many of us are accustomed to packing our schedules with classes, volunteering, and other extracurriculars. Even after graduating from college, I found myself taking on lots of commitments beyond my full-time job (sports, French classes, volunteering) because I felt like I “should.” This year, though, I stuck to one activity — volleyball — and allowed myself to be more flexible with the rest of my time. It was nice not to be running around stressed, and I felt like I was able to fit in with the pace of life in Europe, which I found to be slower and calmer than in the U.S. Having fewer commitments gave me time to deal with problems — from getting lost on the metro to a family crisis back home — without feeling too much pressure from my other responsibilities. It also allowed me time to visit museums, go on walks, pick up new hobbies, and make last-minute plans with friends; all of these things improved my quality of life.
To be clear, community engagement is really valuable as a Fulbrighter, and I’m not saying not to do anything! But just stick to one or two things and prioritize your downtime – you’ll thank yourself for it later.
