At the Bright Foun­da­tion, one of our long-term goals is to strength­en the con­nec­tions between the schol­ars and alum­ni. As our com­mu­ni­ty con­tin­ues to grow, so does the oppor­tu­ni­ty to build mean­ing­ful rela­tion­ships that help open doors to men­tor­ships, pro­fes­sion­al insights, and pos­si­ble career opportunities. 

Some­times, these con­nec­tions are sparked in every­day conversations. 

Last fall, Mered­ith Dohmen met with Fer­nan­da Cuevas-Gil, then a junior major­ing in Pub­lic Health at Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa. Dur­ing their con­ver­sa­tion, Fer­nan­da shared her career in pur­su­ing a career in the pub­lic health field. As Mered­ith lis­tened, some­thing clicked, she remem­bered a recent update from a Bright alum­na work­ing in that field. 

Alum­na, Grace Schmidt, a 2023 grad­u­ate from the Uni­ver­si­ty of North­ern Iowa, cur­rent­ly serves as a Direc­tor of the Ben­ton Coun­ty Pub­lic Health Depart­ment in Vin­ton, Iowa. 

 Mered­ith con­nect­ed the two so that Fer­nan­da could learn more about careers in pub­lic health. What began as a sim­ple intro­duc­tion quick­ly grew into a mean­ing­ful men­tor­ship that even­tu­al­ly led to a valu­able intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ty for Fer­nan­da work­ing direct­ly with Grace. 

Grace was hap­py to give back in this way, not­ing, ​“I great­ly val­ue oppor­tu­ni­ties to con­nect with cur­rent and future pub­lic health prac­ti­tion­ers. Our field is con­tin­u­al­ly evolv­ing, and I believe that when stu­dents and pro­fes­sion­als col­lab­o­rate, we all have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn and grow!”

After her on-going com­mu­ni­ca­tions with Grace, Fer­nan­da sent an update to Mered­ith. ​“I am hap­py to share with you that I am in fact intern­ing with Grace Schmidt at Ben­ton Coun­ty and I could­n’t be hap­pi­er for this oppor­tu­ni­ty. She has been so kind and under­stand­ing and I have been able to learn so much from her and the Pub­lic Health field. She makes me even more glad to have cho­sen this field.”

As the Bright Foun­da­tion net­work grows, so will these moments and unfor­get­table con­nec­tions, each one strength­en­ing the net­work and open­ing doors for the next cohort of Bright Scholars.