告诉我们一些关于你的Watson项目以及它将带你去的地方！

我的Watson项目标题为“死亡派遣：探索我们如何死亡。”广泛地说，我努力探讨“有尊严的死亡”概念在社会上和医学建造的。关于个人生活的文化，机构和规范的死亡和垂死的信念，但是在生活结束时实际发生的事情往往被当地医疗机构，可用资源和社会经济/政治气候决定。我将前往希腊，印度，澳大利亚，新西兰和荷兰 - 所有国家将允许我探索社会和医疗之间的紧张关系。

我认为我的项目是最好的描述我为基金会的网站写下了：“什么构成了尊严的死亡？如何被文化，机构和个人生活的文化，机构和规范形式的死亡和死亡的概念？使用救生处理和满足生活结束需求之间的平衡是多少？死亡和死亡仪式与传统在美国发现的社区有一些答案。通过参与者观察，访谈和志愿者经历，我将探讨“尊严的死亡”的概念是如何社会和规范地建造的。“

的主要influe(或)是什么nces in your life that has inspired you to pursue this path?

我一直觉得有幸运的是我生命中的导师，这支持我的每一个不良的想法或兴趣。因为你会在接下来的问题的答案中看到，我认为我不太决定对生活结束的关心变得非常感兴趣，它有点刚刚发生在有机上，几乎意外地发生了。When I started to become very interested in these issues, I had just begun a research position at Dana-Farber’s Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, was enrolled in a number of health-related courses at Wellesley and was personally grappling with questions related to serious illness. One of my closest supporters/mentors is a palliative care social worker, and at that time she said to me, “Once you get into end-of-life care, you may never get out.” I believe she said that because death and dying is so profound, intellectually, philosophically, and emotionally — we all have in common some sort of experience with serious illness/death, we all think about questions related to it. She was right, and I couldn’t imagine my life any other way.

你的威尔斯利生活如何影响你对这个项目的兴趣？/你的时间在Wellesley塑造了你的建议吗？你的教授？职业教育？

I came to Wellesley knowing that I was really interested in two academic areas: public policy and math. I was interested in those areas because I felt they provided the tools through which I could do good in the world. Somewhat naively, I figured that economics was the intersection of the two, so it made sense to study that. Four years later, I will graduate with a major in economics and a minor in mathematics. My studies may seem somewhat incongruous with my project, but really my project just represent the maturation of the motivations that prompted my course. Wellesley’s broad-sweeping liberal arts curriculum exposed me to the many other ways that problems can (and should) be evaluated and also peaked my interest in opportunities like the Watson Fellowship which would allow me to look at an issue in a very broad, multi-disciplinary sense.

I became very interested in natural language processing (a computer science technique that uses machine learn to interpret and analyze text) during my sophomore year, and particularly in its application to questions related to health and welfare. In the summer before my junior year, a doctor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was looking for a research assistant for a line of research that uses natural language processing techniques to improve care delivered at the end-of-life. Serendipitously, this opportunity arose at a time when questions related serious illness were also at the forefront of my personal life. From then on, I really haven’t looked back. I started to become very interested in public health—taking a number of health-related courses throughout many of Wellesley’s departments — and also started to volunteer at a local hospice. Everyone at Wellesley and Dana-Farber (professors, mentors, chaplains) have encouraged my curiosity (intellectual and otherwise) in end-of-life health issues. In typical Wellesley fashion, they also have gone above and beyond — providing books they think I might be interested in, advising thesis and independent studies, being open to discussing any ideas!”

至：“在典型的Wellesley时尚时，他们也走到了以上 - 提供他们认为我可能会感兴趣的书籍，建议独立研究，并开放讨论任何想法！

您通过Watson应用程序的学习或获得了什么？

When first beginning to craft my application, I often heard two sentiments about Watson: “The foundation invests in people, not projects” and “The person should be the project and the project should be the person.” Both of these speak to the fact that crafting a proposal is a very introspective process. I was challenged to understand my motivations and interest in death and dying, then explain how those have informed my life’s course. From this, I gained a deeper sense of myself, academically and personally, which was rewarding in and of itself.

What inspired you to take the leap and apply? Or, what would you say to encourage your peers to apply?

The wonderful people in the Fellowships Office! Seriously, they are absolutely fantastic individuals—always available to chat about proposals, work out logistics, or provide counseling when called upon. Though I became convinced in my junior year that I wanted to apply for a Watson (because I heard about the Watson through one of the Fellowship Office’s informational seminars!), they were a necessary and invaluable support system throughout the process.

What most excites you about this opportunity?

Practically everything! I’ve always felt that there is so very much for me to learn about end-of-life care and death and dying since there are many discipline that ask questions related to it. I am excited to learn from all those that meet across those fields. My Watson year provides to opportunity to deeply engage with big questions that cannot really be understood, let alone answered, from formal study alone. Perhaps the most important skill I will develop throughout my Watson year is how to not only engage with, but encourage the exploration of, discomfort and differences associated with death and dying.