You can find dates and times for all GCC-sponsored programs in Handshake. Be sure to sign in when you arrive so your attendance is properly recorded. Include here a reflection piece on your experience.
I attended the application advice and information session for the Watson Fellowship. I didn’t know anything about the fellowship before, but from seeing Cate and Dylan on the poster and their projects, I was interested in learning more about it. Like the law school applications panel, I found the process intimidating. I’m not intimidated by working hard at some things, but these application processes are a different animal. I guess most people don’t love them. But Cate said that even had she not gotten selected, she would still be happy that she went through the application process because of the self-reflection, creation of a list of contacts and organizations all over the world, and the need to continue thinking deeply about the project she’s interested in. Additionally, the details of the fellowship itself struck me. $40,000 to travel to a bunch of countries to pursue a self-selected project, with no output required at the end. It’s an incredible opportunity, and I was so excited for Cate and Dylan to be pursueing it. I loved studying abroad and loved many aspects of traveling in South America. I also imagine that fellows can feel unmoored as they move to a new country just as they’re starting to get the hang of the current one. But I thought back to what one of my advisors/professors said about writing a thesis: you should do it if you have a burning desire to dedicate yourself intensely to a topic, not just because it’s cool or impressive. I’m not sure that I would have a topic for a thesis, let alone a year of wordly travel. I would like to travel, and I would like to learn a lot and positively contribute to my community and the world, but I’m not sure that the Watson Fellowship is the right move for me.
