NIU students receive Fulbright scholarships
By CARRIE FRILLMAN - cfrillman@daily-chronicle.com
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| Zach Sands holds his son Alexander, 4 months, before dinner at their Sycamore home on Thursday July 2, 2009. Zach is moving his family to Moldova on a Fulbright scholarship after recently graduating with a master's degree in english from Northern Illinois University.
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SYCAMORE — Zach Sands is faced with the challenge this summer of condensing the items in his home into just a few suitcases.
He, his wife and their two young children are headed this fall to the Republic of Moldova, a landlocked country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Their 10-month trip means leaving a lot behind and more in storage, they said.
"Usually the first thing people ask is, 'Where is Moldova?'" the 32-year-old said, smiling. "It's going to be an adventure, for sure. I know it will change the way we look at just about everything."
Sands, who lives in Sycamore, is one of two Northern Illinois University students who have been awarded Fulbright fellowships to study abroad for the upcoming academic year. This is the second consecutive year the school has had two students selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which offers competitive scholarships for graduating college seniors, graduate students and artists.
Student Lauren Hansen, 23, will be traveling for the second time to Germany, where she will be teaching English.
"I'm definitely thrilled about being chosen," she said. "This is what I'm really passionate about. I'm excited for the exchange of information, but more for the overall exchange of culture."
While Hansen will be helping middle or high school students study language in an area known for its rolling hills and vineyards, Sands is hoping to understand the cultural identity of a country that few know much, if anything, about.
"I guess I just want to know what it means to be Moldovan," Sands said. "I want to learn about their cultural identity but I also want to look for a common thread of humanity."
About two-thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, according to the 2007 World Book Encyclopedia. The languages — Moldovan and Romanian — are essentially identical and the two countries share a common cultural heritage, Sands said.
Although the country emerged as an independent republic after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the communist party remains in power.
"There is a huge disparity between the very rich and the very poor," Sands said. "It's the poorest country in Europe."
The Moldovan economy is centered on agriculture, he said, and its two main products are wine and sunflowers. The wine collection the country houses in a series of underground tunnels is the biggest wine collection in Europe, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
But without a water source, exporting products is difficult.
"We are having a hard enough time trying to figure out how to get there," Sands said, noting that there are no direct flights to Moldova. "They face a lot of challenges."
Sands will spend his time compiling a documentary film that explores Moldovan cultural identity, while his wife, Jamie, cares for their children, Chloe, 3, and Alexander, 4 months.
"It's exciting," Jamie Sands said. "Every person that we meet, every friend that we make and every situation we come across, we'll have something to learn from."
