“It clicked for me when I realized that a lot of what I’ve done at Middlebury has been related to food.
“Food intersects with sustainability, both internationally and domestically. I think I’d enjoy approaching these issues from a social entrepreneurship or business perspective. But for me, getting some hard skills will be important first.
“At Middlebury I’ve had a real aggregate of experiences and have made wonderful connections.” A Phi Beta Kappa economics major with math and Spanish minors, Ellery also captains the crew team.
“I had this really wonderful professor—Professor Horlacher—and every time I turned an exam in he would look at me and say, ‘We really need some great women economists. You should be an econ major.’
“After graduation I’ll be working with Analysis Group in Boston. I’ve done an internship with them and found wonderful mentors. They use economics to solve real-world problems like the mortgage-backed securities issue and health-care analytics and outcomes research. They also do pro bono cases using data analytics with hospitals and NGOs like Partners in Health.
“It’s an immediate extension of what I’ve done here as an econ major. But what I like most about it is the potential for my professional growth.”
Ellery has taken advantage of many volunteer opportunities during her Midd years, some of them while living abroad in resource-poor countries.
“I tagged along with a friend to a GlobeMed meeting my freshman year, and I liked the students who were doing it and the message behind it. GlobeMed has 50 student-run chapters at U.S. colleges and universities. Each chapter partners with an NGO in a developing country. Middlebury’s NGO partner is Gardens for Health International (GHI), which helps impoverished families overcome malnutrition.
“Through a paid Middlebury internship, I spent summer 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda, helping GHI with its home garden program. Malnutrition affects 44 percent of children under five there, and GHI provides mothers a holistic education in hygiene, HIV prevention, finance, and growing gardens for a balanced diet. I helped GHI edit its health curriculum and expand its fund-raising capacities, and I conducted interviews and collected photographs to share with its supporters.
“This February break I’ll be leading a MAlt trip (Middlebury’s alternative break service program) at an urban farm in New Orleans.
“I also spent a semester at Middlebury’s School Abroad in Montevideo, Uruguay. It was off the beaten path and I really stuck out there. I was living my life in Spanish—while in class, volunteering for Amnesty International, and with my quirky host family. I had wanted a challenge and didn’t realize just how challenging it would be.
“Together these experiences have shaped how I think and what I’m interested in now. I’m really excited to see what the next few years hold and I’m almost more excited to see the great things I know my Middlebury friends will be doing.”