The Patrick Healy Fellowship Visits Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus
For Georgetown University’s Patrick Healy Fellowship Program, established in 1997, five to seven high-achieving sophomore students are selected every year to be part of a dynamic community of student leaders. These students have a demonstrated interest in community engagement, particularly in projects related to marginalized communities, and as part of the Fellowship they receive training and experience across six guiding pillars: Fellowship, Mentorship, Education, Community Engagement, Leadership Development, and Alumni Development. The aspiring fellows maintain an important presence on campus, organizing projects built around specific and varied issues, such as urban education and food health.
Fordham English’s Assistant Professor Sasha Ann Panaram was selected to join the fellowship in spring 2010 as an undergraduate student at Georgetown University. Today the fellowship consists of over 125 alumni members who eagerly work with the Fellowship by mentoring younger students, as each student is paired with Georgetown alumni in fields relevant to their academic and professional interests. Prof Panaram credits the invaluable support network provided by the Fellowship as a key factor in her successful pursuit of a career as an English professor. As an undergraduate student, she was paired with a mentor undertaking a PhD in Linguistics as well as a professor of African American Studies and Performance Studies, and was closely guided by the inspiration, career model, and advice provided by these academic mentors.
Prof Panaram and the visiting fellows: Zifei Zhao, Yu Fan Mei, Myla Taylor, Kyndall Jackson, Gianna Datoumda, Corey Madison, Anahita Asudani
On Saturday, January 31st, Prof Panaram welcomed seven current undergraduate fellows to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus as part of the program’s trip to New York City for NY Career Day. During this weekend for professional development, the fellows met Georgetown alumni now working in Manhattan across several companies: Alumni Ventures, Accenture, Solutions Journalism Network, and Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners. At Fordham, the students participated in a résumé workshop. The students, under the guidance of Prof Panaram and Georgetown alumna Kaley Palanjian collectively discussed and revised their resumes, which were projected in front of the room. This experience not only provided advice on how to improve and expand upon their already impressive credentials, but offered them the opportunity to determine how best to present their work to the public. Finishing up with some time to reflect upon their experience of the weekend, the fellows departed the Lincoln Center campus with a strong sense of how to develop their résumés and clear takeaways from their days of professional engagement in the Big Apple. Something that became evident during the weekend, and is relevant to all undergraduate and graduate students, is that career paths are rarely linear or even predictable! There are many different options and opportunities that will present themselves during and after a student’s time at university, and entering the job market requires flexibility and curiosity.
As Jesuit universities, Fordham and Georgetown both prioritize the benefits of cross-disciplinary and holistic approaches to education. This brief visit of Georgetown’s impressive Patrick Healy fellows and mentors to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus demonstrates the fundamental networks of professors and academics that underpin relationships between universities. Just as Prof Panaram has benefited from her participation in the Fellowship, and given her expertise in turn to younger members, the connections and shared knowledge of our academic community remain a productive and stimulating aspect of university life.