Sociology Pre Grad Intern Quincy Mitchell

Quicy Mitchell"As a first generation college student and a student of color, graduate school seemed far out of my reach. I was introduced to the Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) program by one of my former Sociology professors Dr. Danielle Dirks, who fortunately mentored me though the program. Her mentorship was by far the most helpful aspect of IE. Although I had no intention of obtaining an advanced degree, I knew that I was passionate about education and helping younger generations reach their full academic potential. My plan was to teach upon graduation, albeit Danielle pushed me to think beyond what was in my immediate future. She connected me to resources and helped me create short and long-term academic and career plans. As an IE Intern I had an opportunity to meet with local teachers and administrators as well as members of the Teach For America regional leadership team. I realized through this program and after speaking to several people that an advanced degree is exactly what I needed to take my future career to the next level.

Immediately following graduation, I joined the College Advising Corps 2011 cohort. This role gave me a humbling opportunity to guide first-generation students and their families through the college application process in Houston's historic 5th Ward. I later joined KIPP Houston Public Schools as the Founding College Counselor, before working as the Admissions Coordinator at Harvard University for two years. I currently work in the Department of Government at Harvard, where I support faculty and students. This fall I will begin my M.Ed in Education Policy and Management at Harvard Graduate School of Education. I am forever grateful that I had an opportunity to participate in IE, and quite confident that without this experience I might not have considered graduate school. I highly recommend IE to undergraduate students who might be considering graduate school, but I especially recommend this program for those who (like me) might not be."