Luca Dinulescu

Fulbright Student, 2007-2008

My story
Often times people forget the importance of stories. But stories are vital, because deep at their core lies a strong message. Just like an arc over time, their meanings follow us throughout generations.

Let me tell you my story, a short one. A tale into whose deeper meaning we were first glimpsed by a great figure of the American politics.

I have arrived in the city of New York on the 2nd of September, 2007, after a wonderful Gateway Orientation at the Portland State University.

Here, in New York, was the place where my Fulbright grant was supposed to come into effect. My university: the New York Film Academy.

And then, even before I fully came to realize the change, it all began. Long hour classes, workshops, screenings, pitching sessions, meeting producers, directing actors for shorts... you name it. The schedule was sometimes exhausting, but the quality of information made everything worthwhile.

That's just one side of the coin, though. The other, maybe as beautiful as the act of learning itself... the people doing all those things, side by side, were students from all over the world.

Today I believe that the academic experience at NYFA was the most prominent in my whole life. Not only that it broadened my horizon, but it also took my insight on filmmaking to a new level. It elevated my mind. It showed what beautiful things can be done with my craft.

This, if you will, is the message carried through time, for me (and countless of other students like me), by senator J.W.Fulbright: global education is indeed the mean to achieve better understanding amongst nations and enlighten yourself to a state of mind you haven't thought possible.

After one year of study in a gorgeous city and an enrichment seminar held in New Mexico, the hard work is only about to begin. Even though my story ends here, this is where yours begins. All you have to do is step up to the challenge.