The Lilly Project for the Exploration of Vocation sponsored returnee presentations and a ìHow to Apply” evening this week to stimulate student interest in the programís summer exploration fellowships.
The Lilly Project offers five summer fellowship programs providing stipends for off-campus activities.† Laura Valencia í12 spent last summer in North Carolina, for example, to study documentary filmmaking.† ìDocumentary work is not something I could continue at Wooster,” she said. Through the Azimuth grant, Valencia combined her interests in film and her fluency in Spanish to work with migrant farm workers at a small non-governmental organization. Valenciaís grant (Azimuth fellowship winners are awarded up to $2500) allowed her to interview and photograph the workers. She also ran staff meetings and worked with public relations.
According to the Lilly Project, ìAzimuth fellowships are designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore passionate interests outside their academic studies.”† The fellowships ìare wide open,” said Director of the Lilly Project Cathy McConnell. Designed for mature students willing to construct their own academic experience, prior students have studied Gregorian chant, organic farming, bicycles and other projects. ìAzimuth gives you the complete freedom to do what you want to do,” said McConnell.
Amanda Armstrong í11 received a Legal Humanitarian Fellowship (awarded up to $2500) to work for the Fair Housing Association in Cleveland. The fellowship is designed for students who are embarking on careers ìin which a knowledge of ethical issues is important,” according to the Lilly Project.† Armstrongís fellowship allowed her to ìlearn what else to do with a law degree” other than litigation.† She filed complaints with the Civil Rights Commission concerning buildings not to code for citizens with disabilities as well as other legal community issues.† ìI learned how the law affects lives,” said Armstrong, ìusing legal knowledge to help people in a non-predatory way.”
The Lilly Project offers several programs that can be used for overseas study.† Fellows for the Medical Humanitarian award (up to $3100) traveled to Costa Rica, Guatemala and Tanzania to participate in medical and public health-related non-governmental organizations. The project also sponsors tuition and $2000 grants to Rhodes University International School in South Africa to study social justice, human rights and race relations.
This summer, the Lilly Project is teaming with the Center for Entrepreneurship to provide six to 10 students eight-week internships, producing Ingenuity Fest, a ìmulti-media, multi-venued Festival of Art and Technology.” Students will have the opportunity to work on marketing, administration, coordination, programming, fund-raising and festival development projects.
To apply for a Lilly Project fellowship, or to learn more about the programís vocation exploration programs, visit their website (www.wooster.edu/lilly) or visit the Lilly House.† Applications for summer programs are due Feb. 5 by 5 p.m.; applicants will be informed of the decision by spring break.