UWC-USA is participating in a new Princeton “Project 55 Fellowship” program this year, which – thanks again to Shelby Davis’ generosity – brings to our campus a recent Princeton graduate to take on a high-impact, hands-on staff position in an area where we have a significant need.
Zhudi Pan is this year’s Project 55 Policy Fellow, drilling down and providing clarity around key campus projects and New Mexico regulations related to environmental sustainability, water management, New Mexico state requirements, student health and wellness, and residential life.
Zhudi says she selected UWC-USA from a variety of options because she wanted to challenge herself after college and experience living in a rural environment, and the UWC campus in Montezuma was the perfect place to work on globally minded projects that value educational equity.
She says that the Project 55 Fellowship at UWC-USA gives young professionals like her an opportunity to experience what it is like to have a career in international education, take part in the inner-workings of running a school, and see what it takes to make the UWC mission real for students.
As a staff sponsor for CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) experiential education programs Zhudi inspired cohorts of students to tackle some of the world’s most “Wicked Problems” and to become effective “Partners in Health.”
With combined leadership and team management experience gained at Princeton and her personal interest in social entrepreneurship and global health, Zhudi successfully guided 15 UWC-USA students in grassroots proposal development for the Go Make a Difference (GoMAD) grant competition, which awards $2,000 for each winning project to aid communities in Northern New Mexico and around the globe.
Zhudi’s own purpose-driven and proactive approach to carrying out UWC’s mission, and with newly developed experience working with the school’s Wellness, Academic, Residential Life, and Advancement teams, has opened doors for her to collaborate with senior faculty on unique research that aims to improve evidence-based policy making for student mental health and wellness.
Always down to earth, Zhudi will still tell you that “the experience I value the most is being on campus, having meals with the students, and knowing that I have become a trusted staff member and mentor for some.”