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Jackney Prioly Joseph: I received a couple of résumés, and right away I saw Winona had attended my high school. That was nice to see; someone from Boston who grew up in the city like myself. 

Winona Wardwell: I knew that she went to ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ because I read her bio when I was preparing for the interview. I found out that she was a Posse scholar and thought maybe she’d gone to a Boston public school. But it was crazy to find out in the interview that we both went to the same exact high school! 

I got an email from ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ about this posting. Immediately, I thought, This is where I would love to work this summer! BDL is one of the few initiatives that I remember being a part of my classroom and the after-school program from 7th through 12th grade. I wanted to see the behind-the-scenes of it. 

JPJ: One of the things that developed for me as I got into my career was wondering, how are we connecting young people in the city to opportunities to help open doors? That became an area I sought out. I did a lot of work around education and opportunity, then started to narrow down in the space around education, career, and career readiness. 

WW: It’s nice to see that she had a similar experience at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ and what she’s doing with it. It’s inspiring to see that the work we do in college is applicable and to see someone from my school who’s making a difference. 

JPJ: That’s so sweet! Similarly, it’s wonderful to connect with a current student in this way, and add on top of it, double, triple the joy of having her be someone from my school and the same city. A lot of my professional experience is focused on career readiness. I really believe in that, and I appreciate the opportunity to provide mentorship. 

WW: It’s also nice getting to share experiences about working on campus and balancing different things. Jackney was telling me about all the different jobs she had in college, and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow! That sounds cool, maybe I’ll do similar stuff while I’m at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½.’ It’s having both a role model and someone with shared experiences. 

JPJ: During our first conversation, Winona expressed some thoughts that were very familiar. I was like, ‘I want to encourage you because I felt the same way going into ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½. Take it with a grain of salt because you are ready to be there.’ When we met again on our first day, she talked about some of her first-year experiences, and it was great to see her fully being a ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ woman. 

I think there are more resources now than when I was there. There also seems to be more joy on campus. It’s not just solely focused on the academic rigor. When I come back to campus, I see — what are those things you have? — lawn chairs and hammocks. We didn’t have those. 

WW: And I love to talk to Jackney about the 360° program that I’m doing in the fall where I get to go to South Korea. 

JPJ: It’s great to see that she’s taking advantage of all of these opportunities. 

One of my favorite aspects of ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ were those unplanned connections and conversations that took place in front of Taylor or in the dorm, and those opportunities to get to know and talk with people and make a new friend randomly. I connected with so many different people: friends from Ghana, India, New Jersey, and California. For a small school, I think ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ has a diverse student body. 

WW: One person or one connection can entirely change your experience of school and make it so much better. And I think at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½, uniquely, everyone is so kind. It takes a minute at first because in the rest of the world, people are naturally a bit more closed off, but not at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½ ... it’s the most lovely community. 

JPJ: I always used to say that everyone finds a friend at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ´«Ã½. It just happens.