Office of National Fellowships Interview

Tell me about yourself:

I'm an incoming Industrial and Labor Relations student, and I was born in Guyana. My family won the Diversity Visa Lottery, so we moved to the US when I was 7 years old. I know how fortunate I am to be in the place I’m in today, and that’s something I don’t take lightly as I know I have a responsibility to give back to my community.

I spent the past year as a Macaulay Honors scholar at Hunter College, where a lot of my experiences — whether through school, volunteering, or leadership spaces — have centered on creating environments where everyone has equal access to opportunities and an equal chance to succeed.

I believe that the Office of National Fellowships is an incredible place for me to further my ambitions and continue working towards my goal of equality for all.

Why do you want to work here (raising awareness)

I want to be a part of the Office of National Fellowship’s mission to raise awareness about Cornell’s fellowship opportunities, and help empower more students to pursue them.

Especially the part about raising awareness, because even the most perfectly tailored fellowship is useless if you don’t know it exists. Or worse, you find out about it after you’re not eligible for it anymore. As a college student, there have been times when I’m researching programs and I’ll come across an amazing program, but I’ll see it’s for high schoolers and I’ll think, wow I really really wish I knew about this back then.

Even just looking through your website to prepare for this interview, I already made a list of really interesting fellowships that I intend to apply for in the coming years. These kinds of opportunities can change your life, and I want to ensure that students like me can learn about them.

Why do you want to work here (helping students)

Also, I think that the way you support our skills is incredibly important because of how those skills can help us better navigate the job market when we graduate. I think that there’s a lot of anxiety, especially among students like me, surrounding how we can get started on seemingly insurmountable essays or get over interview nerves, but having the support from an office like this, with people who have a lot of experience, is so helpful.

I’m also interested in the legal field, and getting hands-on experience in public service and client-facing work that makes a difference in the lives of people. In that way, I think that this position would help to develop my skills.

Why am I a good fit for this internship? (general)

I would say that I’m a good fit for this internship because a lot of my past experiences have centered on increasing awareness of opportunities, and empowering people to pursue them, which lines up perfectly with the Office of National Fellowship’s mission.

I have a lot of experience with administrative tasks with my previous internship at the Queens Borough President’s Office, data entry/management at the Career Closet, customer service at the Career Closet and as a Community Justice Connect volunteer and research with my internship at the Rheingold Law and at the Career Closet.

Why am I a good fit for this internship? (Career Closet)

I really want to highlight my previous position as the Career Closet manager at Macaulay Honors College, where I worked with their Office of Career Development in order to provide students with free access to professional clothing, which can be a huge barrier because of how expensive it can be and how people unfortunately do judge you based on how you are dressing. Clothes can also help to increase your confidence.

I was in charge of doing inventory for new donations that come in, which involves logging specific pieces on a Google Spreadsheet file and keeping it updated when students check out items. Based on this data, I made informed decisions about what students would prefer to have in the Closet. It also developed my customer service skills, because I was essentially advising students and helping them figure out what clothes they needed. I was extremely passionate about my role in such an important position, and I received a Student Leadership award for it.

I know that I can bring my skills learned from my position at the Career Closet, and at my previous positions, to the Office of Fellowships.