William Klotz, graduate research assistant to the vice president of Student Affairs and student teacher at Catonsville High School, has been awarded an English teaching assistantship from the Fulbright U.S. student program to teach English to students in Mexico this coming academic year. Klotz is one of only five students at UMBC to receive a Fulbright grant for the 2017-2018 academic year and only one of 60 students accepted nationally to teach English in Mexico.

As a recipient of the Fulbright program, Klotz will live in Mexico for 10 months and be placed in a teacher-training institute, a university or high school, in order to further his education and provide classes to students. The program aims to encourage cultural exchanges by exposing recipients to other countries viewpoints while they teach, interact and live in their host country. Additionally, to further facilitate cultural understanding, Klotz will study the native Aztec Nahuatl language and Mexican dancing during his time abroad. He will specifically research standardized Nahuatl, which shares a pronunciation style with Spanish stemming from its adaptation in Mexico during colonization. Klotz gained an appreciation for dancing during his time at UMBC and will be attempting to learn and understand the regional dances local specific regions during his free time in Mexico.

The year-long Fulbright application process began last spring, with informational sessions taking place in April, which involved both personal statement and grant application essays to be written during the summer. Both the Fulbright program and UMBC have separate deadlines for submissions which result in applications being sent off in October, with approval being required from both the United States and their country of application. Klotz and the other recipients were than notified of their final application status in March and will travel to their host country in August.

Klotz had previously lived in Argentina and so chose to apply for a Mexican assistantship due to the country’s position as a gateway to Latin America for a lot of American students, as well as the current political atmosphere surrounding the country. “I can use my time in Mexico to help connect current knowledge students have or conceptions about, Mexico… and then from there I can bridge them to the other countries,” he said.

Klotz, who currently holds a masters degree in foreign education, hopes that his time with the Fulbright program will help further his ambitions to be a teacher and is aiming to teach Spanish after he returns, potentially at his former high school with the goal of eventually receiving a Ph.D. in either Hispanic literature or performance study.

Klotz recommends that students aiming to receive scholarships to study abroad “write about [their] personal life… just practice writing about [themselves] and just learn how to write really good narratives…”

He added, “Don’t stop because of one rejection letter. For this one Fulbright I got, there are many rejections from grant applications that I applied for… there are tens and tens of grant applicants and scholarships that I applied for that I didn’t get. You just gotta try again.”

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Years after the last original Harry Potter book and movie have been released, dedicated fans are more ecstatic than ever to bring the magical fantasy world into reality and relive those nostalgic feelings from their childhoods. Midnight book releases and movie premieres were pivotal events back then, but now fan-run conventions are the way to go.

The sold-out, small crowded Baltimore Soundstage had limited decorations and festivities, but still a good try for a non-affiliated, fan-run convention. Although it wasn’t like PotterCon attendees were walking straight into Harry Potter World in Florida, the advantage was the lack of kids who were born after the first three books and movies running about.

What attendees did see running about were a slew of costumed fanatics, who can at least recall a short time in their life before any of the Harry Potter franchise existed. These costumes ranged from people simply wearing jeans and an HP t-shirt from Hot Topic, to fanatics who all but resorted to drinking Polyjuice potion (for all non-Potterheads, that means they were pretty much spot-on).

The highlight of the night was the costume contest, which was open to any contestants for $5. All of the money from the contest was donated to 826DC, a nonprofit in D.C. that helps inspire and support writing skills of children in elementary to high school — something J.K. Rowling would raise a Butterbeer to.

It was a close call with attendees who dressed up as students from each house, cooky professors, adorable house elves paired with a single sock, Death Eaters in head to toe black lace and leather, mythical creatures and one particular dark wizard who must not be named.

Third place was awarded to a contestant dressed up as Newt Scamander from “Fantastic Beasts,” and second place, to a group of three students/professors with their respective magical pets. In first place was the reporter, Rita Skeeter, with spot-on attire and an impressive 100 percent immersion into character throughout the entire event. Complete with blonde curls, cat-rimmed glasses and quill and paper, she even mastered the accent and mannerisms as she walked the crowd and accepted her prize on stage.

The rest of the night was filled with stories of how PotterCon came to be, a house sorting ceremony with a slightly intoxicated Dumbledore as co-host and trivia that only the completely dedicated readers and movie-watchers could know. There was also a moment of mourning, when a presentation was projected on a screen to show all of the fallen book/movie characters. Event-goers raised their wands in respect (yes, actual character wands can be bought online or in HP World), but they occasionally booed when the lesser favored of the bunch appeared.

Like any year at Hogwarts, there was a popularity contest between the houses, fighting for the acclaimed House Cup. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin event-goers were given tickets for each activity they participated in, which they could then use to vote for their selected house. Although the crowd dwindled with each event, staying until the very end gave the night closure that was worth the money. It was a close race, but of course, Gryffindor prevailed like they always do.

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