Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship: Welcome Video
Video description: This short video is a promotional snapshot of the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship experience. It lasts 04 minutes and 48 seconds, contains footage of fellows speaking, photos, and shots of fellows in workshops and a dance class.
Dave Basnet:
I was an eager and ambitious freshman, but I also didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with these interests that I had.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you're good.
Speaker 3:
Turn your body.
Saif Zahiri:
I was going into the unknown and I was freaking out.
Bryen Farrell Pittner:
I'm from a very small town. I didn't know anyone and was really looking to put down some roots, find some resources, find some community.
Emily Madray:
I heard about the Watson Fellowship and about the three summer internships. It would allow me to explore my interest and really push me outside of my comfort zone.
Saif Zahiri:
I had gone to my guidance counselor's office and she was like, "Hey, maybe you should apply to this thing."
Sara Nolfo:
What is the purpose? What is the mission that has put you on this journey?
Jackie Williams:
Watson always encourages you to shoot for the moon and beyond.
Sara Nolfo:
Point in your life where you have built the confidence and perspective.
Saif Zahiri:
Having this group of people who continuously tell you, you can apply to these schools, you can apply to these jobs just really gives you the idea that this is possible for me. I can actually do this.
Sara Nolfo:
What are the aspects of our life that we want to reflect on?
Dave Basnet:
Through the Watson Fellowship, I've had the opportunity to explore and be curious in a way that was bold. I had a deep interest in public service, in public policy. I want to go to the places where the biggest challenges were happening. This opportunity to travel to three summer experiences around the world, it sounded too good to be true almost.
Jackie Williams:
It was the first time that I had traveled abroad by myself. It was challenging, but was reminded constantly through Watson that leaning into the discomfort was going to make my summer everything that I imagined and more.
Saif Zahiri:
... Fellows was placed in the New York Police Department.
The Watson Fellowship is the reason that I've been able to do any of the extremism work that I've done. I couldn't afford to leave New York City, for example, and go somewhere else and do an internship with the Southern Poverty Law Center or do something with the West Africa Center in Ghana.
Erika Wang:
Being able to see what I could do if I was to leave the country, it was massive for me in terms of how I could think about what was possible.
Jada Richardson:
Watson really gives you time to reflect on what really interests you. Journalism is not within my field of comfort, and that's something that I wanted to explore more, so that brought me to DC to intern with the International Center for Journalists.
Lauren Sulaiman:
I'm interning with the International Women's Development Agency.
Andrew Williams:
I worked with the Arab American Family Support Center.
Isabella Grullon:
So this summer I'll be interning at Resilient Cities Catalyst.
Speaker 14:
Combine my love of law and storytelling together through this internship.
Erika Wang:
I was working on everything from earthquake preparedness as well as water scarcity to homelessness and mental health, and they were so personally significant to me that the work was immensely fulfilling.
Speaker 15:
Five, six, seven.
Isabella Grullon:
I really enjoyed the orientation, getting to know everyone and bonding. It's nice to have friends who are also really passionate and ambitious and they're curious and they want to explore different fields.
Speaker 16:
I just want to say yes to as many things as possible to make it all worth it.
Andrew Williams:
A lot of parades, a lot of festivals, lots of Spanish food.
Speaker 17:
Even going from city to city, you could have a totally different experience.
Speaker 18:
You're standing in a place where thousands of years of human progress has been made.
Speaker 19:
And if you want to go to Prague, I'll be your tour guide. I think I'm qualified at this point.
Zach Bubolo:
Where are we going to put Watson? Don't be too humble to talk about your awards or achievements. You had this blueprint for what you want to do with your life and you went after it.
Speaker 21:
Where do you guys see yourself in 10 years time? What's the long-term goal?
Dave Basnet:
Since winning the Watson Fellowship in my freshman year, I ended up winning the Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford to pursue my master's in Refugee Enforced Migration studies, as well as my Master's in public policy.
Speaker 22:
Devashish Basnet is a Rhodes Scholar studying refugee and migration patterns. He was a refugee himself.
Dave Basnet:
I was born in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. My family back home in Nepal had heard about Oxford as a dream for many, many years. I wouldn't have had any of those opportunities if it was not for the Watson.
Jackie Williams:
The Jeanette K. Watson Fellowship remind us constantly that we have all the tools that we need. Maybe we don't even know how to use them yet. Just remembering that you're here for a reason, remembering that you're special, that's something that Watson puts a lot of emphasis on, and I think a lot more people need to hear that.
Erika Wang:
Once I got into the fellowship, I realized the impact that other people can have on you, the different cohort members that you're with, I mean, they become lifelong friends.
Speaker 23:
And again. Five, six, hit the drum, hit the drum.
Andrew Williams:
I really love the way that they build us holistically. A lot of other extracurricular activities, they might just build you professionally. They might just build you academically, but Watson truly is committed to building us into the people that we want to become.