Engage in the Process: A National Fellowships Podcast

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Summer Honors Program fellowship helped Scottie learn more about policy development and provided an opportunity to reflect on future goals. Before graduating in spring 2024, the history and mass communications major caught up with Val to talk about AEI’s weeklong summer program in Washington, D.C. 

Jaimeen participated in a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Public Service Weekend at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs in 2022. On a walk across the historic Horseshoe, the 2024 public health graduate reflects on how that weekend shaped his goal of becoming a policy-focused physician.

Jacob earned the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to fund his graduate studies, but his interest in addiction research began long before that. He shares a journey that begins in Psychology 101 in junior college, connects him with supportive mentors, perseveres through a pandemic, and results in opportunities he never thought could be possible. 

Fellowships were on Nina's radar early in her USC journey, and she wasted no time pursuing opportunities that aligned with her passion for environmental science. A National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates took her to Rutgers University for the summer and connected her with a supportive research community and additional sources of funding.

The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship made Daisy's study abroad dreams come true much sooner than expected. Daisy recounts her UK Maymester course, "The Foundations of Law and Government," and explains how the experience influenced her academic and career trajectory.

In this episode, Layne ponders the question, “Have you allowed yourself flexibility in your life?” and shares how an experience in Peru altered her pre-med path. This new direction informed her application for the Rotary Global Grant, which will fund her graduate study in New Zealand. Join Layne as she tells Valerie about the importance of self-reflection, connecting with community, and always asking questions.

In this episode, Kendall and Noah talk about engaging in research and finding value in failure and reaching out to people, which ultimately led him to being an South Carolina NASA Space Grant recipient and getting a masters in mechanical engineering. 

In this episode, Kendall and Felicia discuss how growing up with a brother who is autistic, expanding the definition of brain research, and loving the Spanish language led her to studying abroad as a Gilman Scholar, becoming a Goldwater Scholar for her STEM research, and receiving the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Mexico. 

In this episode, Kendall and Mike discuss switching majors and how feeling alone in Hong Kong led him to studying Punjabi through the Critical Language Scholarship where he ultimately found community.