First-Generation Fellowship Recipients: Jacob Watson

Grad Student Spotlight: Alexia Crockett

Faculty mentors introduced Alexia Crockett to research, and an influential course on addictions sparked her curiosity further. These personal connections have encouraged her to continue in her research career, even amidst a pandemic. Now, she’s focusing on the brain’s reaction to stress and has earned the AAUW Dissertation Fellowship to support her PhD research.

Fellowships on the Fly with Salomon Campos-Rice

Salomon attended the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Public Service Weekend at the University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2022. The 2024 integrated studies graduate shares about how that experience influenced his academic pursuits and encouraged him to use his voice to advocate for others.

Fellowships on the Fly with Scottie Greene

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Summer Honors Program fellowship helped Scottie learn more about policy development and provided an opportunity to reflect on future goals. Before graduating in spring 2024, the history and mass communications major caught up with Val to talk about AEI’s weeklong summer program in Washington, D.C.

Fellowships on the Fly with Jaimeen Shah

Jaimeen participated in a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Public Service Weekend at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs in 2022. On a walk across the historic Horseshoe, the 2024 public health graduate reflects on how that weekend shaped his goal of becoming a policy-focused physician.

First-Generation Fellowship Recipients: Jacob Watson

Jacob earned the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to fund his graduate studies, but his interest in addiction research began long before that. He shares a journey that begins in Psychology 101 in junior college, connects him with supportive mentors, perseveres through a pandemic, and results in opportunities he never thought could be possible.