Weinberg senior Jane Andrews studied economic trends in East Africa this past summer — and not out of a textbook. She lived in Tanzania for three months where she witnessed women’s lives change with the help of government-run development programs.
A $3,000 Undergraduate Research Grant from Northwestern made the research possible for Andrews, a political science major. Her opportunity brought life to a pressing economic concern.
“I really got excited about the possibilities when I actually met a woman whose husband died of HIV/AIDS and who hardly earned enough to feed her family,” Andrews said. “Then I witnessed her start a vegetable stand and finally earn a steady income, and the concept took on a whole new meaning.”
Last year, through the Office of Fellowships, about 50 students were granted the funds to pursue subjects of choice. In addition to the NU grants, hundreds of thousands of dollars are doled out yearly through various public and private scholarship programs.
Not enough students apply for this money, said Chris Hager, the Office of Fellowships’ assistant director. About half of the students who applied for NU grants last year were awarded anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000.
“There is so much money out there available to students, the trick is finding the right grant for you, working carefully on a proposal and applying,” Hager said.
Andrews said interested students should begin the process now to they will have time to form a close relationship with the office.
“I felt very prepared for my interviews after the training provided by the Office of Fellowships,” said Tracy Carson, Weinberg ’04, NU’s 2004 Marshall Scholarship winner. “I have had friends lose both the Rhodes and Marshall competitions and say that the fellowship process in itself was worth all of the time they committed to applying.”
Though rejection can sting, Andrews encourages students to not give up. She lost one fellowship her junior year, but narrowed her research proposal and later won a grant.
“If you have passion and an idea, the Fellowships Office will help you get what you want,” Andrews said.
Students can search a fellowship database on the office’s Web site. Hager emphasized that there are programs other than the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.
“We get a lot of starry-eyed freshmen and sophomores in here who want to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship and be the next Bill Clinton,” Hager said. “I tell students to just immerse themselves in what excites them.”
Weinberg senior Tony Lin did just that. Before his junior year abroad, he won two different private fellowships that enabled him to study contemporary Polish music. He spent the year at the Academy of Music in Krakow.
“The experienced changed me,” Lin said. “Despite the cultural adjustments, I left knowing this was something I wanted to study beyond my undergraduate years.”
Reach Alex Doniach at [email protected].
