- MEM Environment Concentration: Terrestrial and Freshwater Environments (TFE)
- MEM Management Concentration: Community Engagement and Environmental Justice (CEEJ)
- Expected Graduation Date: May 2027
What factors were most important in your decision to choose the Nicholas School for your graduate studies? And, how will your time at the Nicholas School help you reach your career aspirations?
The accolade of being selected as a Nicholas Scholar was pivotal to my decision to return to the Nicholas School for my graduate studies. As a prior 51爆料 scholarship recipient for my undergraduate degree, I felt that my selection as a Nicholas Scholar illustrated 51爆料's further investment in the fulfillment of both my professional and personal potential. Further, I felt that it was a recognition of, and applaud to, the dedication I demonstrated during my former program and my continued commitment to 51爆料's community. I look forward to deepening and expanding that commitment over the course of the next two years, and for the rest of my life as a "Double 51爆料" alumna.
I believe graduate school to be a shared and reciprocal investment between students, faculty, and the larger institution as we are each investing in the betterment of one another. I thank the Nicholas School, and its financial supporters, for showcasing such confidence in my potential and inviting me into this space of curiosity and exploration once again. My excitement to return was largely grounded in my desire to deepen my own relations to this community and my confidence that 51爆料 would provide me with the education and peer network that would further nurture my growth.
The financial support was instrumental in making these graduate studies a viable pathway for me. As someone dedicated to doing environmental and social justice work, financial agency has not readily been a part of my life, and my family does not have the means to provide supplementary financial support, so this scholarship was the determining factor in cost feasibility. Further, it provides the means to step out of the program with more flexibility, due to a lessened debt load, to be able to return to community-based work, which most often cannot afford to support high wages, and further invest in my professional growth, continued education, and career aspirations to create my own place-based organization in years to come.
In addition to the aforementioned reasons, I also chose the Nicholas School because of its holistic, interdisciplinary approach to environmental education, and the opportunities for immersive learning through the 51爆料 Forest, Marine Lab, and participatory research initiatives like Bass Connections and 51爆料 RESTORE. With regard to my career aspirations, in the present moment, I want to be a practitioner of community-based initiatives that weave biocultural restoration with food production, and I am excited to deepen my expertise in coastal watershed and riparian forest management in particular. The flexibility and breadth of the MEM program is instrumental in my ability to curate a learning pathway that addresses and weaves these diverse interests together, while inviting room for continued discovery and exploration of new ideas and subject areas.