Fellowship gives UW students a chance to see the world

SEATTLE – Ten University of Washington students are chosen each year to go on a free trip around the world. They don’t have to give a speech when they return or write a paper or even create a Web site to share their experiences.

The students who win the fellowships, which cover as much as $20,000 in expenses, have only two requirements: They must travel for at least eight months and visit at least six countries in two regions of the world.

“When you can go anywhere in the world and do anything you want, it’s infinite freedom,” said Jennifer Lee, 22, a recent UW graduate.

“I almost cried when I found out,” she said of winning the fellowship. “It’s a wonderful chance of a lifetime.”

University alumnus and investment adviser David Bonderman established the fellowship that bears his name. He traveled internationally after graduate school as the recipient of a Harvard scholarship and sought to create a similar opportunity for UW students.

Bonderman, founding partner of investment firm Texas Pacific Group, declined through a university spokeswoman to be interviewed by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

More than 100 students have received Bonderman Fellowships since the program was established more than a decade ago.

The awards are competitive. The five undergraduate awards drew nearly 100 applications alone, said Brook Kelly, counseling services coordinator for the honors program and a former fellow.

Honors students who are juniors and seniors and graduate students are eligible to apply. Each submits an essay about why he or she wants to travel. The finalists are then interviewed. Five undergraduates and five graduate students are chosen each year. They must begin their travels by the end of the next year.

“What we’re looking for is people who demonstrate a passion for the world, and people who … don’t come across as ‘I have all the answers,’ but they have questions, and they are aware of themselves and aware of the transformational potential,” Kelly said.

The fellowship is intentionally unstructured. Students are free to wander the world and reflect on their experiences.

The fellowship initially started small but is now worth $20,000 for at least eight months of travel; students can travel longer if they stretch out the money.

Students can go virtually anywhere in the world where they can cross the borders. The Bonderman committee discourages students from spending much time in Western Europe, because it’s an easier place for students to visit on their own than South America or Asia.

Students develop their own itineraries, make their own travel arrangements and they must travel on their own.

“I want to have an experience where I’m pushed outside of my comfort zone,” said Camden Davis, 24, who graduated from the UW last year and plans to leave the country by the end of the year.

Over the years, the students have had unique journeys. One student biked through Asia. Another experienced a riot in Central America after there was an increase in bus fares. Ryan Kimmel, who received one of the first fellowships in 1995, spent two months studying art and literature in France and England. In those early days, extensive travel in Western Europe wasn’t discouraged.

“It’s a different kind of travel,” said Kimmel, who went on to earn a medical degree and served on the Bonderman selection committee this year. “You’re not going for the postcards, even though these are remarkable places. You’re going for the cultures and interacting with the people.”