Mr. Whalen has been in India for quite a while, believe it or not, he is just over halfway through his trip.

Whalen was one of only 22 U.S. citizens who were selected to receive the Fulbright Award.

The Fulbright Program provides participants chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential – with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

The first month of the trip in Mumbai, he had focused on sending out surveys as well as learning about the education and social systems.

His goals are to: Interview direct sources and contributors to the social emotional movement in India, identify and understand patterns and themes in the practices identified in order to determine the implications for the future social emotional movement, observe and document instructional strategies within the social emotional lens, and to disseminate the findings of his study for the greater education community.

While having set goals and plans, Whalen keeps an open mind for whatever happens.

Since arriving, he has visited many education institutions, nongovernmental institutions, and spiritual institutions. On top of that, Whalen has traveled to multiple religious temples, synagogues, and ashrams exploring further into his passion for world religion and history.

While interviewing people of various backgrounds and cultures, he asks the spiritual teachers questions about their childhood folklore, important life lessons, as well as their mentors/teachers.

While doing all of this, Whalen has also gathered many artifacts, alongside documenting and blogging everything he does.

Mr. Whalen synthesized lessons, which he plans on bringing back to his classroom for his return in the fall.