It?Äôs probably fair to say that Jenna Maus was born to grow beyond the confines of her Kimball home. While a student at the College of St. Benedict, she immersed herself in world affairs (and world cultures) while studying political science and international affairs.
In 2012, her freshman year, Maus and 12 other students with five faculty from the college spent more than a week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to attend an international conference on women?Äôs leadership. ?ÄúSince then I have become a strong advocate for Muslims in the U.S. and for the eradication of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim violence,?Äù Maus says. ?ÄúI decided to apply for [an English Teaching Assistant (ETA)] grant to Malaysia for one important reason: I wanted to expand my knowledge of Islam.?Äù
Maus was awarded an ETA grant in Malaysia. During her 10 months there, she co-taught English language classes alongside Malaysian teachers. Their students were in grades 4-12. Their school
was a small rural one in the state of Terengganu, on the eastern edge of peninsular Malaysia in southeast Asia.
Jenna Maus (far left) took lots of selfies during her 10 months as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia through the Fulbright Scholarship Program. She taught in a small, rural school there, and her students were the best part of her experience there. Submitted photo.
?ÄúEssentially, my job in the classroom was to make English fun to learn by introducing creative and interactive games and activities,?Äù Maus explained. ?ÄúIn addition to being in the classroom, I organized after-school activities and English language camps.?Äù
Malaysia is split between the peninsula and East Malaysia, separated by the South China Sea. It is a cultural and ethnic melting pot that includes Malays, Chinese, Indians, and various indiginous populations. It is a predominantly Muslim country, with about 60 percent of the population practicing Islam.
Maus found it to be a colorful country, both in the sense of its culture and its people. ?ÄúThe first thing I noticed about my school when I arrived on the first day was its bright and cheery atmosphere,?Äù Maus said.
She quickly became a part of the school. ?ÄúThe whole school community welcomed me with open arms, and they became like family to me,?Äù Maus says. ?ÄúThe students were very shy and a little scared to talk to me at first, but once they warmed up to me they wouldn?Äôt stop talking.?Äù
Indeed, her students were the best part of her 10-month assignment. ?ÄúIt was impossible to be around them and not have a smile on my face,?Äù Maus says. ?ÄúThey were so eager to get to know me and learn about America. For some of them, I was the first American they had ever met. Their enthusiasm certainly made the hard days a little bit easier.?Äù
Those hard days? Maus says that she struggled almost daily with finding a balance between assimilating into a new culture while staying true to her own.
One of the interesting challenges she had while in Malaysia was finding a way to watch the Olympics. They are not broadcast in Malaysia and are, for the most part, blocked. She and her parents, Ed and Sue Maus, figured out how to Skype and share videos of the Olympics from her parents?Äô TV in Kimball all the way to Malaysia so she could watch them on weekends.
Not everyone in the school spoke English, but this was not a barrier to friendships. ?ÄúThere was one teacher in particular at the school who only spoke a few words of English. Despite my lack of knowledge of Bahasa Melayu (the official language of Malaysia) and her lack of English, we were able to strike up a friendship through hand gestures and the few words of each other?Äôs language we both knew.?Äù
Maus?Äôs role at the school went beyond simply teaching English. ?ÄúAside from my role in the classroom, my most important duty as an ETA was to engage in cultural exchange and break down stereotypes Malaysians have of Americans and Americans have of Muslims,?Äù she says.
?ÄúI believe the main thing readers can learn about Islam is that it is a religion of peace, and that is something my students and colleagues urged me to share with my friends and family,?Äù Maus 
says. ?ÄúIslam is not synonymous with violence and terrorism.?Äù
She adds that many Americans and Westerners have a misconception about women wearing veils. This is not oppressive or subjugating of women. Rather, Maus says, some women told her that wearing a headscarf (called a ?Äútudung?Äù in Malaysia) is liberating, that they are proud of their religion, and proud to wear the headscarf.
Jenna Maus returned from Malaysia in November 2016 and received her official Certificate of Completion from the Fulbright Scholarship Program earlier this month. She is working in the Minnesota Senate at the State Capitol and loves working in local government. She hopes to find a career working with immigrants on a more local level.
Ramadan is an Islamic observance marked by a month of fasting and spiritual purification during daylight hours. Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. In Malaysia, Hari Raya is celebrated with lots of food at huge open houses. It is custom for everyone to buy a new outfit for Hari Raya. Jenna Maus (center) poses in her baju kurung with two women also in their new Hari Raya outfits. Submitted photo.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program funded by the U.S. government. The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The program is designed to create peace and mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries. The Fulbright program operates in over 160 countries and administers nearly 8,000 research, study and teaching grants every year.