Tell us a little bit about the Knight-Hennessy and what inspired you to apply.
The Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program (KHS) is a unique program within Stanford; it’s the largest, fully endowed graduate fellowship in the world and brings together scholars from across departments who are focused on impact. What drew me to the program was its emphasis on bringing together research and practice. I was transitioning from industry back into a research environment to explore how research about a child’s early years — from the way they learn, grow, and build skills — can be used to help teachers and parents make more informed decisions. The Fellowship will give me a community of like-minded thinkers and builders who were on a similar mission to make research more actionable, accessible, and applicable to the everyday realities of those whom we ‘research.’ 

How did you navigate the process, especially as Wellesley's second Knight-Hennessy scholar? What advice do you have for Wellesley sibs forging their own path, like you did?
Something my Wellesley mentor often tells me about programs like Knight-Hennessy is that if you don’t give it a shot, you’ll never know. I think application processes are a great way to pause, gather your thoughts, and truly understand what you’d like your next adventure to become. I had several fascinating conversations with Kate Dailinger (Director Fellowships at Wellesley) and Caitlin Roberts-Donovan (Assistant Director, Fellowships) that helped me completely reframe how I prepared for the interview. I started to think of it as a reflection process. I drew copious amounts of mind maps, poured over my past journals, and went through defining learning moments to take stock of the past 10 years of my life. I think this would be my biggest takeaway from the entire process (which is a quite long one!) to think of it as an opportunity to figure out the next chapter of your life. 

How did your time at Wellesley shape your interests, or encourage you along this path? Your professors? Career Education?
I came to Wellesley as a first-generation college student, who was never supposed to complete a university degree in the first place. Meeting my mentor Antonia De Meo ’89 almost 10 years ago in Sri Lanka changed my entire life trajectory. That’s what great mentors do — they see something in you that you don’t see yourself. This is exactly what I got from my professors at Wellesley — my first-year writing professor (turned thesis advisor) Prof. Justin Armstrong, who introduced me to the world of anthropology, and Prof. Susan Ellison who showed me how applied ethnography could work in communities like my own. The Career Education office has been transformational — from reviewing my initial application to Stanford to now my KHS material, the team really held my hand through some of my biggest milestones.

What did you learn or gain from going through the application process?
The first was the focused time I got to reflect on my journey so far — this was my biggest takeaway. I have been really curious about the role of reflection from a research perspective for a few years now and the application process allowed me to put this to practice.
The second was the incredible people I met during the in-person immersion weekend. For context, KHS flies in 100+ finalists to Stanford for a 2-day experience. I met some of the kindest, most thoughtful, and utterly brilliant people during these two days — for me, this was priceless. This kind of global community is hard to find — I remember having a conversation with a researcher who was studying HIV in community-engaged ways, an investigative journalist from Pakistan doing phenomenal work around environmental justice, and even recently marched alongside another scholar at a recent on-campus protest for Gaza. It’s rare to find your people in one place! 

What would you say to encourage your Wellesley sibs to apply? Do you have any advice for them?
I would encourage anyone considering Stanford for graduate studies to look at the Knight Hennessey program. For me the starting point was the KHS website; I looked at the structure of the program and also the scholar profiles to get at the essence of what the program believed in. Then I went to the fellowships team at the Career Education office and also reached out to a couple of my mentors to get as much feedback as possible on my application process and the structure of my essays. For each round, it was a lot of mind mapping, reflection, and getting feedback from anyone ready to listen to me. 

For my final round, Kate and Caitlin even put together a panel of professors and staff for a mock interview and I remember texting Kate minutes before my interview for some last-minute motivation. As a first-generation college student, this kind of support is truly life-changing. I also got KHS during my third try (I know! Sometimes I have a hard time taking no for an answer!) but putting a process in place and having diverse sources of feedback goes a long way.

What excites you about this opportunity?
The cohort! I love my current PhD cohort at the Stanford Education School and now I am excited to add to this community and learn from peers doing incredible work in areas like global health, affordable housing, and immigration.