Daniel Barkowitz | March 11, 2008
"Armchair Traveling"
I count myself as a quasi-international. Although I am (and was born) a U.S. Citizen, I was actually born in another country (Panama) where my parents were working (in the Panama Canal Zone). I was fortunate in growing up abroad in that I gained a unique perspective on American culture, both within and without the circle of American life (for more on this perspective you might want to see my poem about this experience called "Trilingual").
While growing up, I had the chance to do some pretty extensive travel through Central and South America. I've been to Costa Rica, Ecuador (and the Galapagos Islands), Jamaica, and (much more recently) Israel. But there are so many countries I would like to visit which I haven't had the chance to yet. From India to Egypt, from China to the U.K., my appetite for travel has not yet lived up to my practical reality.
So, this time of year is a real pleasure for me since we get to do a little armchair traveling of our own here at MIT. In reviewing applications for financial aid from International students we get to have a taste of what each country is like. Granted, you can't tell much from a piece of paper or an income statement, but the languages, cultural norms, and societal values do carry through in your faxes, letters and emails. I enjoy this bit of armchair traveling -- so far today we've visited Mexico, Japan, Ghana, China, Pakistan and India to name just a few of the counties we've examined. We've studied your tax forms (Saral documents, Inland Revenue, statements from your employers), and each time I've wondered what attitudes, aspirations and perspective on American culture, values and history you will bring with you when / if you come to MIT in the Fall.
I've been lucky enough in my time here to meet with (and serve as the advisor for) students from many countries. I've learned about footwear from Kuwait, Kyrgyzstany history, and Lebanese food and culture. The exchange opportunities are mutual, and I thoroughly enjoy each and every one of them. It settles my yearnings for more travel, at least for the moment... But you never know where you may catch me next summer... In the meantime, keep on sending in those international tax forms and applications (and for those of you who are U.S. citizens and/or living in this country, we like the U.S. tax forms as well -- get those in too!).
This year there is another American-born Panama Canal Zonian who has reached some prominence (much more than I'll ever achieve I'm sure). Check out the debate as to whether a foreign-born U.S. Citizen can become president by reading the NY times coverage of this story here.
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The author has filed this entry in the "Financial Aid" , "International Students" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
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My own first (see I can do it, Ben!)...
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 11, 2008 02:39 PM
second.
Posted by: Anonymous on March 11, 2008 02:44 PM
third!
Posted by: Ashwath on March 11, 2008 02:47 PM
Way to go Daniel!!
Posted by: Natasha891 on March 11, 2008 02:48 PM
Oh wait, so that means you did not visit my country ? Nooo ! It is very peaceful and very welcoming, do come here ! You could get people to know MIT since it is not very famous here. And I can host you ! ^^
Posted by: Isshak on March 11, 2008 03:06 PM
noh!!!i missed it!!a sad fifth gurl!!:(
Posted by: Sabreena!! on March 11, 2008 03:06 PM
By the way, good job with you first post !
Posted by: Isshak on March 11, 2008 03:07 PM
Daniel, Good to see that you got the first post. Have you ever been to Brazil in one of your travels to South America? If you haven´t, its a really nice and diverse country and you should come and visit here, you will probably like it.
Best of Luck to all applicants on Saturday.
Posted by: Ivan on March 11, 2008 03:27 PM
I am an Obama supporter, and don't want McCain as president. That being said, I still think he should get to run, since the Republicans voted him in. If he couldn't because of something dumb like not being born TECHNICALLY in America it would be incredibly stupid.
Also, about US tax forms, I sent my forms to College Board under IDOC a few days ago and they say they haven't received them yet, which in turn means MIT hasn't received them. Will there be an estimated financial aid package with my letter (if I hopefully get in) or will that not be sent until later? Thanks! :D
Posted by: Steve on March 11, 2008 03:36 PM
Whoah. How about Lithuania - the geographical center of the Europe? I believe next year(2009) is going to be the best time to visit it as Vilnius becomes European capital of culture and also it'll be 1000 year anniversary from Lithuania's first mention on paper(or maybe pergament). Much stuff will be happening here.
Posted by: Vytautas on March 11, 2008 03:43 PM
Give IDOC a few days, Steve, they usually run about a week behind. If we have your applications in by tomorrow (and you are admitted), we will hope to have your financial aid award letter in your packet when it is mailed.
Isshak, I am so there... Benin has long been a place I've longed to go... (and Lithuania would be fun too!).
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 11, 2008 04:10 PM
Haven't you ever visited any European country? My country, Romania, is amazing, both because of its beautiful natural landscapes such as the Danube Delta and because of our incredible culture. Other countries, like Austria and Greece are also worth a visit.
I hope you can respond to my question: I sent the international tax forms for 2006, but those for 2007 will not be available until probably late March. Assuming I am accepted, will I receive a financial aid offer even if I did not submit the 2007 documents?
Posted by: Ana on March 11, 2008 04:26 PM
Sure. If you are admitted, we will review your application with what we have and ask you for the 2007 information after it is complete.
And I've never been to Europe. For shame, for shame...
I WANT TO though....
Posted by: Daniel T. Barkowitz on March 11, 2008 04:29 PM
I cannot believe how fast you replied. Thanks!
Posted by: Ana on March 11, 2008 04:32 PM
I'm an int'l student, if I submitted my application form for fin. aid but a 2nd one was requested and I sent it off, but a bit late, will that defer my chances of receiving fin aid...Assuming that I have been accepted.
Posted by: N... on March 11, 2008 04:56 PM
Oh and I explained the situation regarding my non-custodial parent in the first application, but the second one was still requested...so is that a bad thing??
Posted by: N... on March 11, 2008 04:58 PM
Thanks for answering all of the questions so far...I have one of my own: Will we, with our decision this saturday, also get our financial aid decision? Or will that follow for admitted students,on a later date?
Thanks!!!
Posted by: MIT Hopeful '12!!! on March 11, 2008 05:12 PM
Typing this on my blackberry so pardon any typos. If we have your information in house for financial aid and you are admitted there should be a financial aid award in your packet. If we are missing anything you'll get a missing information letter.
N, email me so I can look up your status.
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 11, 2008 05:23 PM
Thanks for all the help being offered from the Dept,
you should definently come to the UK, we have such a breadth of culture and its an easy train route or flight to get into the rest of europe
and out of curiosity (because I am hopelessly naive regarding these things) why are non-US citizens not allowed to run for president, surely the process of being nominated by their party and a public election will root out any candidates who aren't loyalty enough to the U.S.A (or similar faults). this would allow McCain to run and many others, including immigrants who succeed in America and may make fine presidents with rounded world views.
Posted by: Macdonald on March 11, 2008 06:25 PM
Israel is awesome, when were you there? Do you speak Hebrew?
Posted by: Anonymous on March 11, 2008 06:31 PM
Hello, you should come to Yemen in the near future, it is a place where tourists find untouched nature and beauty in an arabian style.
By the way, I wanted to ask a question (which i posted many times by email but didn't get a reply for it), it is checked that my Financial aid application is missing the international tax return form, but I explained in my application that in Yemen, tax is not filed, and is handeled differently, is that fine enough to be considered (if i get admitted) to show a financial aid decision along with our decisions on Saturday?
Posted by: Abdullah on March 11, 2008 07:04 PM
just to clarify
mccain can run because he was born in the panama canal zone which was a U.S. territory, not to mention he was born on a military base
Posted by: Anonymous on March 11, 2008 07:44 PM
Hello, all!
So when do Early Action-ers get their Financial Aid Award Letters?
Thanks!
PS
GOOD LUCK TO ALL EA-DEFERRED and RA APPLICANTS
Posted by: Anonymous on March 11, 2008 08:21 PM
I greatly envy your opportunities for travel - I've lived in the same house my entire life!
Thank you very much, once again, for all of your work in the MIT financial aid office - I know that my mom has found your application to be one of the least stressful (although I think that my admissions anxiety is rubbing off on her a little) due to your helpful staff. I'm glad to hear that it's kind of fun to wade through all of the paperwork - here's to hoping I have something from you guys in my mailbox sometime soon!
Posted by: Karen on March 11, 2008 09:18 PM
You've heard about Lebanese food and culture! You should really visit Lebanon, its a rather liberal arab country with a young democracy being built by the will of the people, but I don't know if its advisable in the current situation...
Btw random question just out of curiosity: Do you start evaluating financial aid applications before decisions are made or do you wait till decisions are taken and only evaluate the applications of admitted students?
Posted by: Ragheb on March 11, 2008 10:01 PM
Jeez, all of this makes a New York born, South Florida raised kid seem so, well, boring. Figures >.
And tried Ben.
Posted by: Laser on March 11, 2008 10:03 PM
The decisions are coming on Saturday for regular applicants?
Posted by: Anonymous on March 11, 2008 10:34 PM
@Anonymous: The decisions are coming out this saturday for all freshman applicants as Ben said in his post...
@Daniel: Have you been to India? :D
Posted by: Shruthi on March 12, 2008 12:44 AM
Yay India! Yay America!
Posted by: Anonymous on March 12, 2008 01:06 AM
My sister is in Kyrgyzstan! Even when I go to the post office to mail packages to her, the postal clerk is like, "you want to send this where"
Posted by: Hawkins on March 12, 2008 01:43 AM
You won't be Saral Forms anymore, thanks to Mr. P Chidambaram (our Finance Minister), now we have ITR forms from this year onwards :)
Yay for all the Armchair Travelling!
Posted by: Vihang on March 12, 2008 05:15 AM
@Vihang - Yep. No more saral forms indeed :D
Posted by: Shruthi on March 12, 2008 05:39 AM
Danny I think you should visit Sri lanka too.Just ask the people you know who have visited Sri Lanka about the country and you will hear some amazing stories which will make you visit the country immediately.You won't be disappointed in any way.By the way I have question too.
I also applied for financial aid but my parents do not pay taxes even though people here pay taxes.So I sent a statement from my father's employer indicating the amounts my dad earns.But the Financial Aid office asks for the tax forms,which I don't have because my dad does not actually pay taxes.My dad is a salesman working in a toy store who is paid on a daily basis.Generally people in such jobs are not required by law to pay taxes because the income they earn is not normally taxable.I outlined my case to the Financial Aid office a few weeks back but I still have not got any reply.I would be grateful if you can respond to this.
Posted by: Anonymous on March 12, 2008 06:38 AM
Danny I think you should visit Sri lanka too.Just ask the people you know who have visited Sri Lanka about the country and you will hear some amazing stories which will make you visit the country immediately.You won't be disappointed in any way.By the way I have a question too.
I applied for financial aid but I did not send tax forms becuase my parents do not pay taxes even though people here do pay.So I sent a statement from my father's employer indicating the amounts my dad earns.But the Financial Aid office asks for the tax forms,which I don't have because my dad does not actually pay taxes.My dad is a salesman working in a toy store who is paid on a daily basis.Generally people in such jobs are not required by law to pay taxes because the income they earn is not normally taxable.I outlined my case to the Financial Aid office a few weeks back but I still have not got any reply.I would be grateful if you can respond to this.
Posted by: Inshaf on March 12, 2008 06:42 AM
It's funny that every international student asks you visit their country. Accept us all and you will find nice hosts all over the world.
Posted by: Ana on March 12, 2008 07:54 AM
Inshaf, took care of it! Your documents are marked as complete.
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 12, 2008 05:36 PM
Cool stuff, im going to Israel soon for a competition should be fun.
Posted by: Anonymous on March 12, 2008 05:50 PM
Wow, I just have to say... I find all of these comments extremely interesting. I've really got to get into here.
But to add something to the conversation, as someone who was born in the US and then lived in the UK for a couple of years, I thought the best part was just meeting the people. Dan, if you've met so many people without leaving your work, then good for you, man!! It makes visiting even better once you get the chance to go.
Posted by: Emily on March 12, 2008 09:34 PM
