VALUES
The Common Threads
Learners. Leaders. Adventurers. Country-hopping, world-loving, truth-seeking pioneers.
Each Keegan Fellow is unique, utilizing their own passions, skill sets, and narratives to shape their year of travel. Past projects vary widely: from national parks to marriage, musical composition to end-of-life care, and sustainable transportation to the concept of freedom.
Below are four qualities each Keegan Fellow embodies -- what we see as essential in applicants for success during their year of travel and life as a global citizen and leader.
LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL:
The Keegan Fellowship is, at its core, an investment in the Fellow and their potential for global leadership. As such, each Keegan Fellow has shown their leadership capabilities throughout their time at Vanderbilt and demonstrated their plans to continue to grow and serve their communities--and our world--through their time during and beyond the Fellowship.
GLOBAL MINDSET:
The Keegan Fellowship does not require previous travel experience. Instead, it demands globally-minded leaders that are open to learning, adapting to new cultures, and forging relationships in dynamic settings. Above all, Keegan Fellows must be comfortable leaning into unfamiliar situations in order to open their minds and expand their perspectives.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
Keegan Fellows have a track record for active citizenship and engagement. They are committed to the welfare of others and affecting positive social change in their respective communities.
NATURAL CURIOSITY:
Keegan Fellows ask questions and question answers. As lifelong learners, they view the entire world as their classroom and use their year of travel to better understand their place in it.
“The Fellowship experience informed every major decision immediately upon my return: what to study, where to live, how to volunteer, with whom I wanted to spend time. Now, over twenty years out, it serves as a touchstone when I need to remember the kindness of strangers, the humanity that unites us, and that within me there is a long tradition of resilient iconoclast with difficulties sitting behind a desk.”
— Michelle Manzo, 1992-93