Careen Apwoka, African Fulbright Fellow

Careen is an African Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at Brown. She is currently teaching students how to speak Swahili. 

Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya 

What made you want to work as a Fulbright Fellow? 

For a long time, I had been looking for an opportunity that would allow me to not only teach but also learn how to become a better teacher. So, when I found out about the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Program, I knew it was exactly what I needed. Being a Fulbright also gave me the unique opportunity to travel while learning on the job at one of the best institutions in the country.

What has been the most rewarding part of your experience as a Fellow so far? 

As a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at Brown, I have had a lot of experiences that have made me so grateful to be part of the program. Being new to Brown and Providence, I am especially grateful for the welcoming community at the Centre for Language Studies. The people I work with have gone out of their way to make my adjustment into the community so much easier. This is my first experience teaching Swahili as a foreign language and I feel so lucky to have students that are really committed to learning. Just hearing them speak Swahili is so rewarding!

What are your future plans after the fellowship, and how do you think your experience as a Fellow will tie into any specific projects you have in mind? 

Being an FLTA at Brown has given me the chance to work on my skills as a teacher every day. I feel like I am a better teacher today than when I first arrived and being here has allowed me to explore education from a unique point of view. This also led me to re-evaluate my future plans in the teaching profession — a process which was catalysed by a course I took this semester: ‘Education: The Craft of Teaching.’ Due to this course and my experience as an FLTA, I now plan on pursuing a masters degree in Cross-Cultural International Education after the Fulbright Program. 

By Aalia Jagwani ’24