When I was 18, I fell in love with ideas. I remember exactly when it happened. I was a college freshman, and a well-known poet took an interest in my writing.

He was worldly and looked like a rock star, and he said my writing showed I had a penchant for history, philosophy and politics. He introduced me to poets whose work reflected these intersections: Pablo Neruda from Chile; Octavio Paz from Mexico; W.S. Merwin, just recently the poet laureate of the United States; and Charles Simic, another poet laureate.

That was it. I was hooked by the urgencies of beauty, human rights and the mysteries of human love. I started reading and writing with passion and learned to seek out faculty and cherish scholarly conversations. And lo and behold, I learned that it’s possible to travel beyond campus and pursue the joys of reading and writing in far flung places.

I discovered there are grants for students and graduates that allow you to travel and explore ideas across the globe. Just four years after meeting that faculty poet, I found myself in Helsinki, Finland, as a Fulbright scholar studying poetry. What an experience!

Here at Syracuse University we have similar stories from our undergraduate and graduate students. Last year, senior John Giammatteo won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship for two years of study. This year, he is at the City University London, and next year, he will work at the University of London’s School for Oriental and African Studies. And as I write, Qi Li and Amy Rabideau are both pursuing doctorate programs funded by National Science Foundation fellowships at the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. In 2010-11, 10 SU students won Fulbright Scholarships to study throughout the world. 

I want to encourage students to learn about a campus support group called the Nationally Competitive Scholarship Committee, or NCSC. I serve as the co-chair of this committee alongside professor John Western, a geographer who studies the nature of cities, among many other things. Together, professor Western and I want you to know that there are amazing, life-changing opportunities for SU students and recent graduates. You don’t have to be enrolled in SU’s honors program to take advantage of these awards. Grants like the Fulbright, the Mitchell, Marshall, Rhodes, Udall, Goldwater and many more offer young people who are in love with learning the chance to explore new horizons. Whether you’re in the sciences, the social sciences or the humanities, there are support mechanisms that you can learn about, and our committee is here to help you. You can learn more about us at: http://nationalscholarships.syr.edu/

Stephen Kuusisto

University Professor

Co-chair Nationally Competitive Scholarship Committee

Director, The Renée Crown University Honors Program 

Published on January 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm