8-18 Media:Great U.P. opportunity
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Lily Dixon
8-18 Media
Special to the Journal
Many Upper Peninsula high school girls are not aware of a fantastic opportunity that is available to them, an opportunity to get a scholarship to study at one of the most rigorous and selective colleges in the country. The Joyce Ivy Foundation (JIF) is a nonprofit based out of Ann Arbor, MI, that strives to bring midwest girls into ivy-league summer college programs. Madeleine Wood, a Marquette Senior High School Senior, took advantage of the JIF's summer scholars opportunity and went to Brown University for a two-week program during the summer of 2022.
Wood found out about the opportunity through her mom. Knowing her daughter was college-bound, her mother thought it would be an extraordinary opportunity. When Wood heard about the opportunity to study over the summer at an Ivy League school, it immediately piqued her interest.
You may be wondering what the application process looks like. Time-consuming? Overwhelming? Wood said it was not hard at all.
"It's basically like submitting a resume to a job. You just have to talk about some of your achievements and some of your progress as you have gone up in high school, so I definitely don't think it's overwhelming at all, and they have a lot of great resources for you to look at. I feel like you can submit to a lot of summer activities, so they don't make it hard at all and give you a lot of help," Wood said.
Wood found out she was accepted into the Brown University pre-college summer program and then she learned she had won the JIF scholarship. She was first introduced to the Joyce Ivy community at the Summer Scholar's Gala to celebrate all the scholarship winners.
"It was in Detroit. It was super interesting. They had a ton of speakers, the director of the program, you got to meet all of the other scholars from that year, and they even had influential women of the year that we got to hear talk," Wood explained. "It was just really fun, and a great first impression, this huge gala, and I really felt empowered with all the accomplished women there."
The Joyce Ivy Foundation works with select partner schools and recommends that applicants choose three college programs to apply to so their opportunities aren't limited. Wood's first choice was to attend Brown University's summer program.
"Brown was definitely number one on my list. I love Rhode Island. I have family in Connecticut, so I've always been drawn to that part of the East Coast, and so when Brown accepted me and I saw my offer, I was like, 'I'm going to Brown!' I think the environment there, now, after being there, it was just like the perfect place for me to be and to grow," Wood said.
At Brown, Wood chose to study a course called: Female Forces- Hidden Histories of Art and Design.
"I am super interested in history, so I was like, why don't I tie some art into it and take an art history course? We don't have those offered at the high school, and so I was like, I'm just going to try it out because I love history and I love art, and it was the perfect match. My teacher was amazing. It was super interesting, and I learned a ton of things, and even if I don't want to necessarily go into studying art history, I think it was super influential for my growth," Wood expressed.
Wood was immersed in the Brown environment, where she was able to live the college experience and see a glimpse of her future.
"I thought the class was super cool because the teacher was amazing, and it really felt like a real college class. We met every day because it was just two weeks, but it would be like a couple of hours, and we would have really great discussions. I was reading scholarly articles, and I was like, 'I'm so cool. I'm in college. I'm reading these articles and making notes and stuff,' Wood exclaimed. "I think it was a really great opportunity because I got to see maybe what my future courses in college would be like, and that was really cool."
Wood not only enjoyed her classes, but the dorm and city life excited her too. She's lived in Marquette her whole life, so the switch to city living in Providence was an exciting change.
"The Brown campus is just so beautiful. I just wish I could go back. Everything was different from Marquette. Walking to the dining hall, I had to walk down the busiest and loudest street, and it smelled like trash, but I was like, 'This is it. This is as good as it gets.' I thought it was super cool because the campus is interspersed with the city, and so wherever you want to walk, I mean, you are going to see a lot of people that you wouldn't see if you were on a secluded campus, which I thought was super cool. As far as the dorms go, I really loved mine. My roommate was amazing. It was a really great experience because I don't have any sisters, and I was on a floor with all women, and I was like, 'This is amazing! This is college,' Wood said.
This experience pushed Wood outside of her comfort zone and left her with a greater sense of self-confidence.
"It really helped me grow as a student. I gained so much appreciation for the teachers in my life and the amazing subjects that are out there that I didn't even know I could study. Just as a person, I think I really gained independence. I flew by myself for the first time on a plane and got to navigate a city with a few friends. It was really eye-opening. I really got a glimpse into the future and what my future could be like."
Being a Joyce Ivy Foundation Summer Scholar changed Wood's college trajectory. She now sets her sights higher and knows more about what she wants to get out of her college experience.
"There is just so much that you need to know, but the Joyce Ivy Foundation really helped me with it. I definitely feel more confident applying to colleges, especially after I got accepted to study at Brown. It's okay if I apply to these prestigious colleges. It gave me validation that I could actually go and apply to this college and I could go to this college. As far as shaping my experience for college, I definitely want my experience to be similar to the summer program," Wood explained. "I feel like I have learned so much since then, but like I definitely want to go somewhere else. It definitely affected where I want to go. As far as what I want to study, I think I want to stick with history."
Wood encourages all high school girls to apply if interested.
"First off, definitely apply for the Joyce Ivy Foundation, and even if you don't get accepted as a summer scholar, there still are a ton of opportunities that they offer on their social media, a ton of tips for college, and definitely get involved with them. Advice for anyone who is applying for college is just to keep your options open and apply. Feel confident in yourself that you can apply anywhere you want to. You have a voice. You have a story, and everyone wants to hear it. Be confident when you are applying, and you don't know if you don't try."
For more information, visit https://joyceivyfoundation.org/summer-scholars/. The 2023 application process is open now. The deadline for the upcoming summer scholar applications is March 1st, 2023.