When I graduated I didn't necessarily
know what was next. I knew that I loved
what I studied but, I didn't know how I
could do something meaningful.
The students we get who apply to the
Engagement Fellow Program, once they're
graduated they're looking to do
something that's impactful.
You can reflect it really easily when
you're doing a service here or, doing
something of service. It really gives you
a different perspective and allows you
to really think about what you want to
do and what career you want to pursue after
you leave James Madison. You know, people
often say, Oh somebody's taking a gap
year. We think of the Engagement
Fellowship instead as a growth year.
Compared to other cohorts I think living
together really creates a bond. I really
don't feel like I'm alone during the
process. I think it's like I'm going
through it with a team and it's a really
good team environment we have.
Civic engagement is ingrained into our
mission statement and our values as an
institution. President Alger has created
this initiative that we want to come out
as active and enlightened citizens. It
has given me this opportunity to really
explore the different realms that I can
continue working in. I feel really
empowered by this position, it gave me a lot
of confidence, it gave me a lot of
courage to speak my mind. The Engagement
Fellows really serve a lot of our core
interests at the university so, we have
one in ethical reasoning. Having an
Engagement Fellow there helps them build
programming for students and it's being
done by a recent graduate. So they
understand what sort of things students
are looking for what sort of things students
want. I think it empowers me every day.
Just by being accepted into the program
they see you're someone like me is
competitive in the field. Someone that
has a year of experience working in a
professional setting and that has really
given me a lot of opportunities after
this program.
