ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As the 2017-2018 Bonderman Fellowship cohort wraps up their final month of travel abroad, the Center for Global & Intercultural Study (CGIS)has selected four new graduating University of Michigan seniors from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) to be the part of the 2018-2019 Bonderman Fellowship cohort.

This newest cohort includes Shruti Arora, Ivyanne Augustine, Chetali Jain, and Alexis Jones who will all be awarded $20,000 each to travel to a minimum of 6 countries in two regions of their choosing over the course of 8 months. While abroad, they are expected to immerse themselves in independent and enriching explorations.

The idea behind this program is to give graduating seniors an opportunity to engage with people from various cultures, which will allow them to see the world from a new perspective.

“The amount I've grown as a person and as a global citizen are truly immeasurable. I've always been steadfastly confident in my identity, and that core has remained, but I had no idea how much capacity for self-growth  I possessed before Bonderman,” 2017-2018 Bonderman Fellow, Kelly O’Donnel said. “I'm so much 'more' now; more experienced, more aware, more culturally sensitive, more empathetic, more spontaneous, and most of all, more committed to a lifelong pursuit of the priorities of learning, happiness, and health that I identified during my fellowship.

The Bonderman Fellowship is a prestigious program at U-M that attracts talented, innovative, and ambitious scholars who are eager to experience intercultural realities around the globe. Bonderman fellows will be expected to make their own travel itineraries and, because this is meant to be an individual experience, cannot engage in formal study at a foreign university, conduct formal research, or travel with a guest or organized groups.

“The Bonderman is unique in that it is entirely self-directed: the Fellows plan their own itinerary and travel independently for eight months, subject to both serendipitous encounters and the vicissitudes of life on the road,” CGIS Director Michael Jordan said. “There is no blueprint for a Bonderman Fellowship. As the Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote, ‘Caminante, no hay camino, / se hace camino al andar (Walker, there is no path, / the path is made in walking.)’”

Getting to know the new cohort

Shruti Arora, Neuroscience and Evolutionary Anthropology major: “I grew up in a small town without a mailing address. While my life manifested as a series of comfort zones, traveling and seeing the world were always dreams of mine. As a kid, I would travel through books, music and movies; but I always thought that time, opportunity and resources were just a few of the factors that would prevent that dream from being fulfilled. Receiving the Bonderman fellowship has allowed me to realize a goal that has been dormant for so long. I no longer dream of seeing the world, I actively plan on it. While I know this fellowship will push me to my limits, I am excited to have the world and its people leave an impact on me and with any luck, I will leave an impact on it and them.”

Ivyanne Augustine, English and German major: “Over the course of my time at this university, I’ve been humbled by the opportunities I have been given here. Becoming a Bonderman Fellow is no exception. If you had said to my teenage self ‘Hey, one day you’re going to travel around the world!’ I would’ve laughed in your face. I never expected to leave Jackson, MI. Coming to Ann Arbor was already a big eye-opener, so I can’t even imagine how different it will be once I’ve completed the Bonderman Fellowship. The chance for adventure is so remarkable and surreal to me. To be honest, travelling the world is a dream I never thought I’d achieve. After my journey, my days will most likely be filled with applications to graduate programs in English literature and GRE prep—but I’m also curious to see who I’ll be after all this. Will I still have the same goals? I guess we’ll see.”

Chetali Jain, Microbiology major and Writing minor: “To me, Bonderman is about living curiously and daringly – a life of not just tolerating change but of seeking it out. In the spirit of vibrancy in simplicity and also because it seems fun, I have wrangled some thoughts into a haiku below (although, if we're using haikus as a unit of measurement, there could be lots of haikus, maybe even a limerick or two, about how important I think independently traversing the planet is).

There is only now
Peaks or trenches, no flatlines
Don’t lose your passport

It's hard to pinpoint what I’ll do and what I’ll want after the eight months, but it’ll tentatively involve luggage, white coats, and bylines. Maybe haikus.”

Alexis Jones, Biochemistry major and Latin Language & Literature minor: “Over the past four years, the University of Michigan has provided me with endless opportunities to explore and learn and the Bonderman Fellowship is no exception. I first heard about the Fellowship at the end of my freshman year. It sounded like an incredible opportunity, but I never thought that one day I would be a recipient. I never thought that I would be spending a year traveling the world and immersing myself in other cultures. Throughout these eight months, I am excited to learn more about myself and the world around me, to face unforeseen challenges, and to live my life without a schedule. I cannot wait to see what this adventures entails, and I am forever grateful for this opportunity. Forever go blue!”

A bit of history

After graduating from Harvard Law School in the 1960’s, David Bonderman traveled internationally as a Sheldon Fellow and that experience shaped the rest of his life. He created the Bonderman Travel Fellowship in 1995 to provide students with a similar opportunity.

In 2014, Bonderman’s daughter, LSA alumna Samantha Holloway (A.B. ’03), and her husband, Gregory (A.B. ’02), created the Bonderman Fellowship in CGIS. The University of Michigan is one of two schools, along with the University of Washington, to offer the Fellowship.

To read more about the 2018-2019 Bonderman Fellowship cohort, click here!