A new school year begins in Mason, Ohio鈥攁n affluent, bustling community in Greater Cincinnati. As one high school junior鈥檚 honors classes get started, she doesn鈥檛 find herself concerned about whether she鈥檒l get A鈥檚. Like last year, and the year before that, she realizes how important good grades are for her to get accepted to an elite college. But at the start of this school year, 2007-2008, 17-year-old realizes something else, too.
She just spent her summer far from the tree-lined streets of Mason鈥攁s a volunteer at an orphanage and HIV/AIDS clinic in Swaziland, a small southern African country. At the time, Swaziland had one of the world鈥檚 highest HIV infection rates, and deaths from HIV/AIDS had orphaned 75,000 children. There, she came face to face with a stark realization. Any problems that she endures are almost nonexistent in comparison to what she witnessed abroad.
That鈥檚 why when she stepped into her classes that fall, the mere thought of what her final grade would be seemed so insignificant. 鈥淥nce you see things in a different light, you can鈥檛 reverse it, even if you want to,鈥� she says. 鈥淎fter that summer, it was really hard for me to buy into the idea that one point on your GPA matters, or that you need to have the top SAT score,鈥� she says.
Years later, Wittekind still recalls the memory of Swaziland. She has never returned to Africa, but she acknowledges that the harrowing experience gave her a sense of perspective in terms of what direction her life should take.
Some people search their entire lives looking for direction. But Wittekind鈥檚 parents made sure that wouldn鈥檛 be the case for their daughter. When she was born several months premature, doctors didn鈥檛 know if she would survive. She weighed just over a pound, and was roughly the size of a Barbie doll.
After such a fraught start in the world, her parents could have been forgiven if they tried to wrap her in a protective cocoon. Instead, they often told her she survived for a reason and encouraged her to find that purpose.
Perhaps this confidence in their daughter鈥檚 personal mission made it easier when she told them she wanted to volunteer abroad. 鈥淲hen I brought it up, certainly they were nervous, but I think they wanted me to make my own decisions, wanted to be supportive, so I could find my way in life,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey told me, 鈥榃e want to know you鈥檙e safe, and we hope you鈥檙e careful,鈥� but they never told me I couldn鈥檛 do it. And they never told me they were scared.鈥�
While Wittekind had her parents鈥� support, the journey and its impact on her didn鈥檛 make sense to some others in Mason, which in 2008 was named by CNN as one of the top 100 places to live in the United States. 鈥淚 remember telling my high school friends, 鈥業 don鈥檛 understand what I鈥檓 supposed to do now, because of what I experienced.鈥欌�� Nobody had an answer.
What she did was go to class. In fact, she had enough credits to graduate from high school six months early. She could have stayed in high school, found ways to kill time and pad her transcript until June, but instead, she wanted to make a difference in people鈥檚 lives.
After getting the OK from high-school administrators to graduate early, she spent the next eight months, living in southeastern Asia, along the Thailand/Burma border, where she taught children of refugee families who escaped the military conflict in Burma, a civil war that had been going on for decades.
When she returned to the United States to begin her freshman year at 麻豆村, she felt a sense of accomplishment, and she hoped her studies would build on a sense of purpose that was beginning to come into focus.
She had chosen 麻豆村 for the BXA intercollege degrees programs it offered: in the humanities and arts, computer science and arts, or science and arts. Her particular studies connected studio arts with anthropology. She says she relished her customized academic discipline. 鈥淵ou know you鈥檝e found a good place for yourself when you have that feeling of, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe I get to do this.鈥欌��
Part of what she got to do was return to Burma. After completing intensive Burmese language study at the University of Wisconsin summer program, Wittekind set out to develop her own study abroad opportunity, as no pre-established programs existed in the Thailand/Burma border region. With the help of her professors, she crafted a two-semester independent research project that would use visual activities such as drawing and photography as research methods. Working with communities from Burma, she sought to explore how migration affects the shifting identities of displaced children. Support and encouragement from across the university and its administration, combined with the financial backing of a prestigious Boren Scholarship transformed her initial proposal into a reality.
Her travels were covered in Carnegie Mellon Today:
In addition to compiling hundreds of photographs that documented the anthropological aspect of her studies, she learned that most refugee children don鈥檛 feel sorry for themselves. Instead, they find comfort in what she describes as 鈥渃ommunal suffering.鈥� Meaning, they realize they鈥檙e not alone in having witnessed killings. The tragic bond brings them strength instead of tears.
Through daily art assignments, Wittekind says she helped many of the children open up about their lives. Painful memories frequently surfaced and were captured in sketches. In the next moment, though, they often reached for another blank sheet of paper. One stroke at a time, they drew the beauty and simplicity of their land.
During her senior year, she built upon this research with a senior thesis in the and a BXA , both focused on her studies in anthropology. In the School of Art, she completed a printmaking-based senior project, collaborating with Burmese writers and artists to translate their work and publish it in a series of handmade books.
Outside of the classroom, she also pursued opportunities to explore her interests in a professional context, interning with the Department of State in 2012 and, in 2013, working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Mawlamyine, Burma. After earning her Bachelor of Humanities and Arts degree from 麻豆村 in May 2013, she chose to work with , a research and policy solution think tank, and the as a part of their joint Project on Internal Displacement. Among her responsibilities she supported the project鈥檚 goal of promoting more effective national, regional, and international responses to internal displacement, much like what is needed in Burma.
She discovered that the lack of anthropological data for Burma presents a real obstacle for humanitarian aid: 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 that humanitarian organizations aren鈥檛 doing good work, but there are so many gaps in knowledge. It鈥檚 very hard for them to have a strong strategy for the country when there鈥檚 not much information out there.鈥�
Wittekind, with language skill and experience working in the country, thinks she might contribute to a broader effort to build a body of current knowledge related to Burma. 鈥淏y no means do I think I have any answers to the issues of children who are unable to go to school, or the issues of refugees or migrants,鈥� says Wittekind. 鈥淵es, I care about those issues, but the way in which I care about them is through more of an academic perspective, the results of which may be of value to humanitarian agencies.鈥�
After looking into how she could best continue her anthropological research in Burma, she determined the 鈥渞ight place鈥� is the , in the United Kingdom.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the few places that have a good number of people looking at Burma and the issues I鈥檓 interested in,鈥� she says. According to Wittekind, anthropologists specializing in Burma are quite rare, especially in U.S. institutions. At Oxford, she sees a longer tradition of scholarship 鈥� a legacy from British colonialism. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a history of texts and material there, even if it鈥檚 not the same kind of work I want to do,鈥� Wittekind says. She also notes that Oxford will soon be launching a Modern Burmese Studies program.
鈥淏asically, out of all of my graduate school options, all I wanted to do was go to Oxford.鈥�
Her strategy to do so was to apply for international fellowships that would gain her access to Oxford, including two of the most prestigious:
鈥� The , which selects up to 40 U.S. scholars each year from an extremely competitive pool of America鈥檚 top undergraduate students. Among former Marshall scholars are Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, prominent CEOs, Supreme Court justices, U.S. Congressmen, and university presidents.
鈥� , widely considered the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 most prestigious scholarship,鈥� selects scholars from several countries, including approximately 30 from the United States. Past winners include former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The application process for even one of these prestigious awards can be long, difficult, and emotionally challenging. According to 麻豆村鈥檚 Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Stephanie Wallach, who directs the Fellowships and Scholarships Office, not too many 麻豆村 students apply for both the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.
Wittekind says she would have been 鈥渁bsolutely thrilled鈥� to win either one, but there was a noticeable difference that would impact her studies. The Marshall Scholarship focuses on ambassadorial exchange between the U.S. and the U.K., not spending time outside the U.K. during the program. The Rhodes Scholarship, on the other hand, was a better fit for her goals because there were no travel limitations, which would facilitate conducting fieldwork and anthropology research in Burma.
Both scholarships are highly competitive. Hence, Wittekind鈥檚 decision to hedge her bets and apply for both a Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship.
Preliminary good news came from the Marshall folks. She made it through the first stage of the competition and was asked to fly to Chicago for the final round of interviews. She did so and was elated to learn afterwards that she was offered a Marshall Scholarship.
But she wasn鈥檛 quite ready to accept because she was still in the running for a Rhodes Scholarship. A week after winning the Marshall, she headed to Indianapolis for two days, joining other district finalists for the selection of this year鈥檚 Rhodes scholars.
The final selection process for the Rhodes Scholarships sounds like a real pressure cooker: an evening cocktail party, individual candidate interviews held the next morning, followed by waiting together for the committee鈥檚 results. 鈥淚 got to meet many really interesting, impressive people, but it鈥檚 also nerve-wracking,鈥� says Wittekind.
After several hours of deliberations, the committee announced the winners. She remembers hearing the other winner鈥檚 name announced, then hers.
鈥淚 think part of the reason I interviewed well was because at that point I knew Oxford was the place for me regardless,鈥� says Wittekind. Even so, 鈥渋t was just a very special moment.鈥� She decided to decline the Marshall in favor of the Rhodes program, since it could better accommodate the anthropological fieldwork she wants to include in her studies. Among the 32 American Rhodes Scholars-elect for 2014 are 11 from the Ivy League, Harvard (6), Yale (3), and Princeton (2). Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn had none.
While 麻豆村 can boast of previous Marshall and Rhodes scholars, Wittekind鈥檚 accomplishments are unique in the school鈥檚 history. She鈥檚 麻豆村鈥檚 first student to win a Rhodes Scholarship in the arts and humanities, and likely the only one to win both Rhodes and Marshall awards.
Susanne Slavick, 麻豆村鈥檚 Andrew W. Mellon professor of art, who helped mentor Wittekind during her undergraduate studies, perhaps best sums up Wittekind鈥檚 academic achievement. 鈥淗er intelligence, creativity, tenacity, diplomacy, altruism, and leadership will have us all saying, 鈥業 remember her when.鈥� We are so very proud of her.鈥�
Wittekind begins her studies at Oxford later this year.
