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Ajoy
Vase Awarded Rockefeller Fellowship For Aspiring
Teachers of Color
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Ajoy Vase, a Pomona College senior majoring in physics and
mathematics, has been awarded the prestigious Fellowship for
Aspiring Teachers of Color by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
He is one of just 25 recipients nationwide. Rockefeller
Fellows receive $22,100 over five years to help in their
pursuit of a teaching career.
Prior to coming to Pomona, Vase spent a year working
full-time at his former high school in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates. During that time, he taught remedial middle school
classes, worked as a substitute teacher, coached soccer and
assisted with administrative tasks. “It was an incredibly
unique and exciting experience and actually made me think
for the first time of being a full-time teacher,” says Vase.
During his undergraduate summers, Vase worked as a teaching
assistant for the Pomona College Summer Scholars Enrichment
program and as an intern with the Los Angeles Urban Project,
a city-run summer camp. At Pomona, he also served as a
sponsor for first-year students, as a resident advisor and
an active member of the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
Vase plans to use his Rockefeller Fellowship to pursue a
Master’s degree in education with the ultimate goal of
teaching physics and mathematics to 9th and 10th grade
students. “I think that those years are extremely formative
intellectually and emotionally for students,” explains Vase.
“I’m especially excited…because these fields are the ones
that can provide students access to rigorous science and
engineering programs at the university level. It’s important
that more people have access to these programs, even if they
don’t choose to enroll in them, because access to science
and technology means access to power.”
As an international student from Dubai and Pune, India, Vase
hopes to share his international experience with his
students. “I want to encourage my students to think on a
global level and have big dreams about changing the world,”
he says. “Physics and mathematics can give students a
framework to think critically about and address social
issues.”
Pomona College, one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions, offers a comprehensive program in the arts,
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Its
hallmarks include small classes, close relationships with
faculty and a range of opportunities for student research.
Visit Pomona College on the Web at www.pomona.edu. |
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