Monday, June 16, 2008

You Got What? To Go Where?



I am a 2008-2009 recipient of the Mary Elvira Stevens Traveling Fellowship. It's this brilliant pocket of money that allows Wellesley College alums to essentially follow their dream for a year. Here are the details:

The Mary Elvira Stevens Traveling Fellowship, established by the will of Alice Alvira Stevens, Class of 1891, carries a stipend of up to $20,000 (taxable according to law) for up to a full year of travel or study outside the United States. It is available to a Wellesley graduate who is at least 25 years of age in the year of application, 2007. There is no limitation as to field of interest, but the applicant's detailed plan must be approved in advance by the Fellowship Committee. Candidates seeking to explore either academic or non-academic fields are encouraged to apply.

The will states that "preference shall be given to persons with good temper and a natural generosity of view when confronted with alien conditions, common sense in observing and comprehending social, economic, and political situations, a strong desire to travel, and a deep love of beauty."

It also expresses the expectation that the Fellowship will provide for Wellesley alumnae and the United States "well-balanced young women who may or may not teach, write, or lecture, but who in any event will live in a spirit of knowledge and understanding that will assure a reasonable degree of wisdom."

Sign me up.

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