Fordham’s Office of Prestigious Fellowships hosted their second Fellowships Week from Feb. 21 to 25 and featured a variety of events that students could attend to learn more about the fellowships that are available to them. The Office of Prestigious Fellowships hosted six events virtually and had programs about topics ranging from paying for graduate school to how to apply for awards in the United Kingdom. 

“Fellowships Week is important in that it shows students what opportunities are available to them. Applying for awards doesn’t have to be everyone’s trajectory, but I want every student to know that the Office of Prestigious Fellowships is an available resource and that we want them to reach out,” said Marisa Iglesias, interim director of the Office of Prestigious Fellowships.

While Fellowship Week happened last year, there were some notable changes this year. 

“Some of our most popular sessions from last year, such as ‘Paying for Graduate School’ and ‘The ABCs of Applying for Awards’ were repeated, but with updated content,” said Iglesias. “New this year was a session I was most excited about, the ‘Stronger than Failure’ roundtable discussion with fellowship winners who had applied more than once for the same award and to different ones as well.” 

The “Stronger than Failure” round table discussion featured many notable people like Ujunwa Anakwenze, winner of the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and Kevin Morales, winner of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Russia. Both shared insights with students about how they moved past their failures. According to Iglesias, they talked about how they overcame rejection and shared tips on how “they worked through the negative talk that we inevitably feel as humans.” 

Another one of Fellowship Week’s new programs was a program entitled “Who Should Write Your Recommendations?” This session was led by fellowship advisor, Alex Finn-Atkins. According to Iglesias, in this session Finn-Atkins helped to show students how to choose what faculty members to write recommendation letters in a strategic manner. 

According to Iglesias, the events with the highest attendance rates were “The ABCs of Applying for Awards” and “The Fulbright Information Session.” The Fulbright award is one of the university’s most popular awards.

“Fulbright is the most well-known award and allows students to study, conduct research or teach English in a country of their choosing. Fordham has a strong history of success with Fulbright, and this year we’re waiting to hear the final results for our 16 finalists,” said Iglesias. 

“The ABCs of Applying for Awards” is a more general informational session aimed at students in their freshmen, sophomore and junior years of college. Iglesias led the session and gave advice to students on how to apply for awards outside of the university as well as informing students about the award opportunities for underclassmen. 

All the sessions for the week were recorded, so if students would like to view one that they missed, they can reach out to the Office of Prestigious Fellowships. 

In college, it can be hard to prioritize applying for awards. Iglesias hopes that through Fellowship Week, students will get inspired and decide to apply to a few. 

“I hope that [students] walked away inspired and revved up to throw their hats in the ring and apply. As much as we want all students to win awards, the process of applying, no matter the outcome, is an invaluable experience,” said Iglesias. 

Iglesias hopes that students who may have not thought of themselves as traditionally qualified for some of these awards will also consider applying. 

“Through the variety of sessions during Fellowships Week and the opportunities to meet successful applicants whose reasons for applying are very different from one another, I hope that [students] saw that they do not need to fit a particular mold to apply and win a fellowship,” said Iglesias. 

If students would like more information about fellowships, they can reach The Office of Prestigious Fellowship at [email protected].