Princeton applicants for abroad fellowships down

The number of Princeton applicants for Princeton in Latin America and Princeton in Africa decreased this year, while those for Princeton in Asia remained stable, according to the executive directors of the three programs.

The programs send post-graduate fellows to different international regions for a full year. PiLA connects students to public-sector and nonprofit work, and PiA and PiAf both send students to organizations in fields such as journalism, public health and education. All three are affiliated with, but not funded by, the University, and they accept applicants from other universities.

PiLA saw a total of 191 applications, with 30 coming from Princeton students. PiA received 420 applications, with 90 from Princeton students. PiAf did not specify how many applications it has received but said there was an 18 percent increase over last year. More non-Princeton students applied to both PiLA and PiAf, but not to PiA, compared with last year, according to the program directors.

For this year’s cycle, PiLA plans to offer 20 to 25 fellowships, PiA plans to offer 150 to 160, and PiAf plans to offer 25. Each program will offer roughly the same number of fellowships as it did last year.

PiA was founded in 1898 and has had more than 3,000 participants. More than 200 fellows have participated in PiAf since its founding in 1999, and PiLA, the most recent addition, has seen 76 participants since it was founded in 2002.

Program directors stressed the benefit of international opportunities that allow participants to gain a diverse set of skills and attain a new perspective.

“Princeton in Asia is so diverse,” said Anastasia Vrachnos ’91, the program’s executive director. While the skills required vary by post, all PiA fellows learn about problem-solving and resourcefulness, Vrachnos added.

A PiA alumna herself, Vrachnos said that one of the most important lessons she learned was “how to take good risks.” For Princeton graduates, their experience as fellows may be the first time they are not good at something, Vrachnos explained, noting that the program teaches humility.

Cordelia Persen, executive director of PiAf, explained that beyond representing a variety of fields, fellowships also offer different types of work. Some students sit at desks, some do research and some work on their own projects, she explained.

The program “helps you get your foot in the door,” Persen said. For example, she added, it is almost impossible to get a job at the United Nations directly after graduation, though Princeton in Africa offers that opportunity.

Princeton in Latin America was started to give students the chance to do public-sector work in Latin America, explained Claire Brown ’94, the program’s executive director. “We’re interested in opening career paths and enriching people’s understanding of issues they’ve studied in school,” she said.

Fellows can use their skills learned during their work as springboards for their careers, Brown said, adding that “if you’re interested in going into any kind of public-interest work, it’s helpful to have your first job be in that field.”

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One of the goals of the programs is to expand the horizons of recent college graduates, whether they are going abroad for the first time or have studied abroad in those regions before.

Mary Reid Munford ’10, a current PiAf fellow working for African Impact in Zambia, said she has appreciated the opportunity to discover more about herself through her work. “It gives you a chance to have a completely different life experience and see the other side of the world from a personal perspective,” she explained.

PiAf applicant Daniel Echelman ’11 has spent two summers in Kenya and said he hopes to receive a fellowship next year, because “I’ve just had my heart set on being back in Africa after I graduate.”

Andrew Turco ’07, who traveled to Cambodia for a fellowship as a lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said that one of the biggest challenges was “figuring out how to do something in that context of being on my own.” Before his fellowship, Turco had previously participated in the Summer of Service program that PiA offers for Princeton undergraduates.

Regarding the number of applicants this year, Vrachnos explained that PiA benefits from strong recruiting and stories from alumni. She added that the program’s 113-year existence also eases yearly fluctuations in applicant numbers.

Brown could not give a reason for the decrease in PiLA applications from Princeton students, though she said the drop was discussed at a board meeting on Dec. 11. Persen also could not explain the decrease in the number of Princeton applicants for PiAf. “As far as we can tell, the people who were interested in Africa really passionately did apply,” she said.

Both PiLA and PiAf, however, saw an increase in the number of applicants from other universities, which Brown and Person both attributed to greater awareness of the programs, spread by word of mouth.

“I just hope Princeton kids really realize what an opportunity this is,” Persen said. “We hope as many people will take advantage of it as possible.”