Participation In a Research Fellowship: Yale SURF (7pts)

 

Over the summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Leadership Alliance Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. I was placed at Yale University where I completed an 8-week program dedicated to exploring undergraduate research in the Humanities. I had such a fruitful experience, especially through exploring the archives as I spent several weeks at the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Yale Divinity Library, and Sterling Library. I found myself enthralled with the thousands of resources available to me, but I eventually settled on doing work on all girls' institutions in South Africa. 

The highlights of this program included getting to meet other students from various HBCUs and small institutions. I found meaning in cultivating an intellectual community full of students who were committed to research in Black studies, History, Philosophy, and Gender Studies. Ever week, we gathered together for seminar courses on presentation etiquette, library workshops, and daily writing sessions to develop the necessary skills to pursue a PhD. Additionally, through Yale SURF, we were paired with a graduate student and faculty mentor who were both instrumental in cultivating a proactive research environment as they helped me crystallize my research questions and write a precise 15-page prospectus. I felt very fortunate to participate in SURF the year after the UNCF MMUF Summer Institute -- I was able to use the skills I learned from the summer prior and apply it to the work that I was doing at Yale. So much so, that I have decided to use the research I developed at SURF as fodder for my senior thesis in International Studies. 

This program also provided me with external opportunities. While residing in Connecticut, I had the chance to meet with other scholars like Erica Edwards (Spelman Alumna) and Roderick Ferguson (Howard Alumni), both professors at Yale and renowned academics in their respective fields. It was so lovely to pick their brains for advice, while having an informal and candid conversation about potential hurdles in academia. Ultimately, I would say my biggest takeaway from this program was learning how to be flexible. Before beginning at Yale, I had a definite research project (or at least I thought I did) that I wanted to pursue, but these 8 weeks completely transformed my approach to scholarship. As my mentor advised, I really had the chance to embrace the chaos that comes with research and find meaning in places I would have never suspected -- Jayda Hendrickson