Conviction Cohort

Jessica Chai

Liberal Arts Honors, Government

As I approach my last year, I am acutely aware of my final steps before entering the real world. I instinctively tried to neatly package myself when I first came to UT, but Dedman has helped me break out of the boxes I set for myself. By endowing me with financial freedom, I’ve been able to follow my curiosity and trod off the beaten path. And with each step I take, I become more sure of myself.

Last fall as an Archer Fellow, I worked at the Brookings’ Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology. There, I contributed research and analysis that shaped foreign policy conversations in DC. I can’t count the number of lukewarm coffees I’ve had in the Brookings cafeteria, where I solicited free career advice and had deep talks with the movers and shakers in DC. Speaking with scholars whose works I used to religiously cite in high school was surreal. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work for the incredible staff and scholars at Brookings, and the Talbott Center will always hold a special place in my heart as the first place I began to carve out my own path.

In the spring semester, I reunited with my friends, the Clements Center community, and, of course, my Dedman family back at UT. I’ll never forget the Lost Pines retreat, where I got to share beautiful memories with the graduating seniors. Morning bikes in idyllic nature trails and evenings serenaded by cicada chirps felt weightless—I was grounded only by the weight of my love for the people I was with. Each and every person in Dedman taught me something that shaped who I am. Over the years, they’ve encouraged me to take chances on myself, be bold and audacious, have grit and humility, fiercely protect my authenticity. With them, I remember the world is utterly absurd and that humor is life-saving. Thank you Anjali, Aruna, Cass, Drew, Milan, Olivia, Tommy, Trinity, Victoria, Neva, and Aidan for being amazing and inspiring people. Thank you also to Sarah Mason and Dr. Hoelscher for keeping aflame the spirit of the Dedman community.

This summer, I traveled to Japan and learned about nanotechnology for a chemical engineering program (read: I was on vacation for a month). I jumped into the deep end of a world I knew almost nothing about, but I managed to grasp the basics of semiconductors, EUVs, photolithography, integrated circuits, and the geopolitics of supply chains. I have a newfound appreciation for and aspiration to gain a dual fluency in the languages of science and policy. I also experienced the beauty of Japan through its WWII-era jazz cafes, hikes in Nikko National Park, sunsets in Kamakura, rainy days in Uji, climbing the peak of Miyajima Island, and dipping into a traditional onsen.

But of course, I had to come back to DC to run it back. I’m approaching the end of my current internship at the U.S.-China Commission (USCC), where I conducted research on China’s data center buildout, macroeconomic policies, AI competition and innovation, Beijing’s role in the Iran war, and Sino-Russian relations. Working at the Commission has allowed me to gain the language skills, technical proficiency, and critical thinking key to informing our nation’s lawmakers. My evenings are spent messing around with my cohort of International Leadership Foundation Civic Fellows and reconnecting with old friends over gelato.

As I return to campus, I’m joining ISP’s Tearline project and conducting GEOINT research on Indo-Pacific security issues. I’ll also finish writing my government honors thesis, which compares differences in recommended political content on American and Chinese social media platforms. I’ll also return as the Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Orator, an organization that has been a cornerstone of my time here at UT. Joining TXO in my first year has allowed me to witness my maturation from a wide-eyed freshman to a more relaxed and assured senior through my writing. In writing articles on everything from MrBeast to AI, from feminism to immigration policy, I dared to put my thoughts (and all their imperfections) out into the world.

Without Dedman, I would not have had the opportunity to travel to five countries, spend a semester in DC, and play liberal arts imposter in a ChemE class. I’ve been privileged to center my decisions around what brings me fulfillment, not what might be the most practical option. In taking the road less traveled by, I hope to forge my own path ahead.

As I grow older, I realize how important it is to surround yourself with good people. Because of Dedman, my life is full of good people. I am rich in their laughter, I am safe in their compassion, I am seen in their empathy, I am fed by their wisdom. Thank you so much for all the memories you’ve gifted me with.

Joseph Haynes-Stewart

Liberal Arts Honors, Government

My junior year was my most successful year yet in developing both my professional and personal skills. It was a year of deep reflection on my future career goals and allowed me to better understand the most important aspects of life. Most importantly, however, this year taught me the value of people and relationships.

My first semester was characterized primarily by hiking and community service with my fraternity as I sought to take a break from the intensity of my sophomore year. During this time, however, I also laid the groundwork for an intensive second semester that would involve moving to Washington, D.C., for the Archer Fellowship Program. During the program, I interned on Capitol Hill for Congressman Henry Cuellar and served as the Intern Lead for Housing and Defense Appropriations, drawing on my lobbying background and previous experience with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. My experience culminated in the opportunity to draft and submit appropriations lines for several Texas housing programs, contributing to a $10 million increase in soft-gap funding.

It was also during this time that I became more intentional about exploring new places and experiences. I took my first solo trip abroad to Reykjavik, Iceland, where I hiked eight miles on an active volcano and visited the Blue Lagoon. When I returned to the United States, I traveled to Virginia to visit Shenandoah National Park, where I experienced the beauty of the northern Appalachian region firsthand. Additionally, I visited Annapolis, Maryland, for the first time and gained a greater appreciation for the beauty and character of the East Coast.

After completing the Archer Fellowship Program, I returned to Texas to continue my commitment to public service with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. There, I was introduced to the possibility of pursuing a career in public finance and began charting a path toward obtaining a JD/MBA. This fall, I plan to return to Holland & Knight, and after graduation, I plan to continue working with the firm during the next legislative session before attending graduate school.

Jaden Watt

Liberal Arts Honors, Government

I wrote my first Dedman bio sitting in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, somewhere between trying to make sense of a new city and trying to make sense of who I wanted to become at UT. Now, two years later, I find myself back in Oxford writing this bio again. Returning to the same place has made it difficult not to think about the version of myself who sat here then—and how hard he would find it to believe much of what has happened since.

When I first entered the Dedman Distinguished Scholars Program, I remember being struck by how accomplished everyone seemed. The older scholars had internships in Washington, research projects I barely understood, leadership positions across campus, plans for graduate school, and stories from places I had never been. They seemed extraordinarily sure of themselves and, from where I stood, extraordinarily far ahead. I was excited to be among them, but, if I am being truthful, I was also intimidated. I wondered what I would eventually contribute to a community filled with people doing so much.

I have found myself thinking about that freshman more often this year, perhaps because this past year has been one of the fullest of my life.

In the spring, Kiera Dixon and I took an idea that had followed us since freshman year and asked the student body to trust us with it. Running for Student Body President and Vice President was exhilarating, exhausting, at times absurd, and ultimately one of the greatest privileges I have experienced at UT. More than anything, the campaign forced me to become a better listener. Every day brought conversations with students whose experiences at this university looked completely different from my own, and each one made the responsibility we were asking to assume feel more real.

When the votes were counted and Kiera and I were elected, celebration quickly gave way to the reality of governing. Serving as Student Body Vice President has given me a view of UT that few students ever receive. I have sat across from administrators discussing issues that affect tens of thousands of students, worked to turn campaign ideas into initiatives capable of surviving beyond an election cycle, and learned that leadership is often far less glamorous than the title attached to it. Much of it is preparation and follow-up, difficult conversations, unanswered emails, and the willingness to keep showing up when progress moves more slowly than you hoped. I have loved it.

In many ways, this year felt both distinctly different from and like a natural progression of the summer that preceded it. Last summer, I was in Washington, D.C., working on Capitol Hill through the Congressional Black Caucus and in the office of a Congresswoman. I had the opportunity to watch public service from remarkably close range, to see how offices function, how policy is shaped, and how much work happens beyond the moments that ever make it into a headline. I returned to Austin having learned a great deal about leadership from the people around me. This year asked me to put some of those lessons into practice myself.

And Student Government was only one place where that happened. I also stepped into the presidency of the Heman Sweatt Center for Collegiate Males and the role of Polemarch of the Iota Delta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Each has asked something different of me. Student Government has taught me to think institutionally, balancing ambitious ideas against the realities of a university as large and complicated as UT. The Sweatt Center has taught me to think about what it means to pour back into a community that has invested deeply in me. Kappa has taught me about stewardship: the responsibility of leading something whose history began long before I arrived and will continue long after I leave.

Holding those responsibilities simultaneously has also stripped away some of my younger assumptions about leadership. As a freshman, I think I imagined leadership largely through its visible moments—the speeches, positions, accomplishments, and names attached to organizations. I understand it differently now. More often, it looks like being the person who has to make the call when there is no obviously correct one, having a conversation you would rather avoid, taking responsibility when something falls short, or doing the unremarkable work necessary so that everyone else can succeed.

Perhaps the most meaningful part of all of it, though, has been realizing how deeply Dedman was woven into the year. Kiera and I had known each other through the program since freshman year, and another Dedman, Devon Stevenson, became indispensable to turning the idea we had carried for years into something real. As our campaign manager, Devon helped guide nearly every part of the operation. When campaigning gave way to governing, he made that transition with us as our Chief of Staff, becoming one of the people we trust most as we try to turn the promises we made to students into the work of an administration.

But Dedman has become much more to me than a network of accomplished people or a collection of opportunities. At its core, it is one of the kindest and most welcoming communities I have found at UT. It is a group of people who celebrate one another without competition, who show up in the moments that matter, and who make a university as large as this one feel smaller and more familiar.

Over time, that community has become something of a foundation for my life on the Forty Acres. Dedman has been there beneath many of the experiences that have defined my college years, not always visibly, but consistently. It has given me people I can learn from, laugh with, lean on, and return to when everything else becomes hectic. Some of my closest friendships at UT began here, and some of the people who have supported my biggest ambitions are the same people who have also been there during the ordinary, unremarkable moments in between.

That may be what I appreciate most now. As a freshman, I was initially impressed by what Dedman Scholars accomplished. Three years later, I am far more grateful for who they are. They are thoughtful, generous, driven, and deeply kind people, and being surrounded by them has shaped not only what I have believed I could accomplish at UT, but also the kind of person I have tried to become.

Cassidy Wong

Plan II Honors, Architecture

It’s so incredible how these past three years have flown by! I still remember being a fledgling freshman at my first Dedman weekend, so daunted by all of the talented people before me. And now, seemingly moments later, we are about to start our senior year of college. I’ve spent most of my summer in denial of the passage of time, propelled between an exciting May term abroad and role-playing as the working corporate woman I always thought I was too young to be. However, these past weeks recovering from a knee injury (stupidly incurred in Japan) have forced me to slow down (literally) and reflect on my year. The first thing that comes to mind is gratitude: for the privilege of a healthy body, the support of friends and family, studies I am passionate about, and most of all, Dedman and all of the warm and compassionate friends I have gained through its community.

These past two semesters seemed to whiz by at an unintentional speed. In the fall, I was grateful to take on two concurrent design projects. The first, a train station in Taylor, Texas, where I worked at an urban scale to reinvigorate the historic downtown. It was so fulfilling to learn how to break up the blistering concrete sidewalks into a more accessible, vegetated, and resilient main street, and to design the train station as a beacon for public life, floating above a floodwater collection park that would protect its community in a disaster. At the same time, I continued work with my President’s Award of Global Learning research team to develop a community center proposal for Wimberley, Texas, centered around the water resiliency strategies we encountered in our research abroad in Scandinavia last summer. Our project synthesized the key takeaways of our research, from graywater reuse to floodwater capture, and the importance of building community trust in sustainable building technologies. Both of these projects taught me numerous existing solutions to the environmental and housing inequity in the building industry. While it frustrated me that they are used in practice so scarcely, it inspired me to see the path forward in the change I want to bring.

Between these projects, I had the joy of serving on the board of UT NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Students) again, this year as Vice President. It was uplifting to continue building a community of minority architecture students, supporting it through professional development, volunteer work, and social and advocacy events. My proudest moment was when we hosted our inaugural Project Pipeline workshop in partnership with a local firm. It felt like coming full circle, seeing myself in both the wide-eyed elementary schoolers who honestly just signed up because they wanted to play with Legos (real) and the high school seniors who were deep in the anxiety of college applications. I realized I had become the upperclassman I once looked up to, responsible for cultivating a community where mentorship and belonging can flourish. Giving back in this way has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role, and one I am excited to continue this semester.

Another fun side quest this semester was joining Beevo Beekeeping, the most unexpectedly fun thing I did this year. As someone who doesn’t actually know if she has a bee allergy or not, it was super exciting to put on the hive suit and care for the bees!

In the spring, I partnered with a classmate to design a biomedical lab building from the inside out, a pursuit that often kept me up late to the hum of my 3D printer and the pressure of accelerating deadlines. It was invigorating to learn the intricacies of details I’d never considered before, like how HVAC systems cycle or the precise detailing of a waterproof wall. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside my hardworking studio friends; our late nights were made bearable by their company. At the end of it all, I was so proud of everything I had accomplished, and incredibly grateful for the recognition of the Design Excellence award my partner and I achieved. However, I ended the semester feeling drained and uninspired after being stuck in the seemingly endless loop of production. Of course, I don’t regret the effort, but I realized that the way I was working wasn’t sustainable, and that I needed to relearn how to rest and reflect, not just produce.

Thanks to Dedman, I was able to actually put that lesson into practice, wandering through the streets of Japan and Korea on my architecture may term. I rediscovered the joy of exploring without an itinerary and sketching with curiosity. We wandered through onsens, heritage neighborhoods, and breathtaking modern masterpieces, taking in each one carefully and intentionally, even though we sometimes got in trouble for lingering too long (oops).

Looking back on the semester, the moments that filled my cup were simply enjoying the everyday with friends. Stories over homemade hotpot, craft nights with friends, laughing over dinner with deddies, jumping in the hot tub during the snow “storm,” and deliciously unproductive late-night study sessions were the interludes that kept me going throughout the year.

This summer, I enjoyed interning at the architecture firm, Steinberg Hart, learning how buildings actually come together in an office of supportive and talented designers. I was inspired by the fact that even in a world of computers and 3D modeling, architecture remains a tactile and collaborative art that still values drawing and interpersonal connection. My positive experience working on public projects cemented my goals for the future as an architect and left me genuinely excited for what’s ahead.

Even though these past three years have passed in a blink, Dedman has been a grounding force every step of the way. Kayaking in Canyon of the Eagles, pickleballing at Spring Retreat, and all the Monday dinners and random hangouts in between are memories I will always hold close to my heart. Thank you to all my deddies for always showing up as your most authentic and wonderful selves and teaching me to be curious, ambitious, and most of all, kind.