Courage Cohort

Gauri Kanakkancheril Binup

Plan II Honors & International Relations & Global Studies

My freshman year here at UT was quite the whirlwind. It started out with hours loitering by Speedway tables, late nights on HornsLink applications, and weekends where I studied student bios like these to figure out what I should spend time on, who I should hang out with, and what I should achieve in the future. While my journey began with a lot of questions about what I “should do,” I eventually realized that chasing what I wanted to do was far more rewarding. By maintaining many varied interests, I ended up penning a unique first chapter of my college experience.

First and foremost, I’m grateful for how well my course schedule set me up for a multifaceted undergraduate education. My Plan II classes taught me the value of applying humanities-based perspectives to discussions about real world issues. First-year Chinese taught me to remain curious about broadening my worldly understanding. And rehearsing and performing as a violist in UT’s Symphony Orchestra, while unconventional for a non-music major, encouraged me to take inspiration from artists who devote themselves wholeheartedly to their craft.

Ironically, for someone who ended up joining Dedman’s Courage Cohort, I applied to several extracurriculars out of a fear that I wouldn’t find a place to belong. To connect with students involved in my area of study, I joined the International Relations & Global Studies Council, Central Texas Model United Nations, and Student Government’s Community Engagement & Advocacy Agency. To connect with peers interested in civics and service, I joined the Walker Fellowship, where we worked to turn our “Fall 2024 Cohort” into the Food Waste Prevention Cohort by spring symposium, as well as Teaching Refugees to Understand English, where I caught the energy of passionate educators and hardworking young students. To connect with my love for art, I joined the Web team behind UT’s Apricity Magazine and served as a guest usher for Texas Performing Arts. I soon realized that there was no need for fear at all— at every corner of campus, there were new friends to be made and countless opportunities to be experienced with them.

All the while, I made sure to keep connections that started back home. After having graduated from Samskrita Bharati’s secondary education program, I became an assistant teacher of Sanskrit. And following my work on the board for Lebanon Trail High School’s PTSA, I became a Youth Representative and member of the Resolutions Committee on the National PTA’s Board of Directors. Both of these experiences, alongside the many others I’ve picked up over the course of my freshman year, reinforced my passion for service and advocacy, especially when it comes to education and the arts. And in every setting, be it the classroom or the local community in Austin, I was inspired by those who found drive in these passions, people who gave me the courage to do the same.

What originally began with “should dos” led to me sampling a little bit of everything, and then the realization that my interests could bolster each other in powerful ways. Now, especially as a new Dedman scholar, I’m more motivated than ever to keep pursuing everything I want to learn, all in order to better connect with others through more well-rounded insights. With how many interests the DDSP holds collectively, I’m sure I’ll find endless inspiration with which to broaden and share my love for community, education, and art.

Vennela Mallampati

Plan II Honors & Government

My high school experience was characterized by a lot of things, but the large public-school experience wasn’t one of them. As you might imagine, it’s overwhelming going from a high school where you’re one of 43 to a university where you’re one of 43,000. Naturally, my first September here was marked by a lot of late-night soul searching in my dorm as I wondered how I would matter here. For the first time in my life, I felt small and unanchored – and I hated it.

It was that fear of rootlessness that initially pushed me into applying to Planned Parenthood’s Public Affairs Leadership Program, in hopes of getting involved with my local community while still gaining my bearings on campus. Interning with Planned Parenthood gave me the mentorship, tools, and confidence I needed to take on the task of organizing my own outreach event towards the end of the fall semester: a community-led reproductive rights poetry slam. It was a transformative experience. I loved seeing strangers band together, offering their love and support to the poet sharing their experiences onstage – whether by shedding quiet tears along with the poet, clapping raucously once a poem was done, or, in one case, hugging a performer who shared a particularly heart-rending personal story.

This exploration into Austin’s community was further deepened by my work on local political campaigns. During my first election season in Austin, I was fortunate enough to work on both Marc Duchen and Gary Bledsoe’s Austin City Council campaigns. To me, campaign work became a fascinating study of the city of Austin, and, of course, the communities that call it home. Through canvassing neighborhood upon neighborhood—from Northwest Hills to Tarrytown—I became a political geographer of sorts, learning how local factors impacted residents’ politics. Step by step, I started to get a feel for the Austin community and root myself in the issues that lifelong Austinites cared about, from reproductive rights to equitable housing policy.

To feed this growing passion for progressive causes and direct community involvement, I applied to intern at Annie’s List, a political action committee dedicated to electing women to office in Texas.

However, just as I was celebrating the thrilling news of securing the internship offer in my inbox, a phone call from my family delivered something entirely different: grief. My grandmother passed away unexpectedly in February of 2025, and in a blur of heartache and tears, my family and I flew to India for her funeral and last rites. When I returned to campus nearly a month later, everything had changed, and I once again felt that feeling of rootlessness that had plagued me at the start of my freshman year.

It was this feeling of rootlessness that prompted me to apply to the DDSP that March. To me, it wasn’t just a scholarship program – it was a dream come true: the perfect marriage of my small-school past and my big-city present. To put it simply, it was a place to belong, and I am beyond honored and thrilled to be part of this wonderful community come this fall.

This summer, I’m interning at the George W. Bush Institute and continuing my work with Annie’s List, fueling my passions for both immediate-impact politics as well as long-term policy research. Although being back home in Dallas is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Austin, I’m eagerly looking forward to the fall, when I’ll return to Austin, begin interning with Senator Sarah Eckhardt, and, of course, officially join the Dedman family.

Devon Stevenson

Liberal Arts Honors, Government

My first year was full of wonders to say the least. I didn’t expect debate to follow me to college the way it did, but it became the grounding force of my freshman year. Joining the UT Debate Team, qualifying for the National Debate Tournament, and traveling as part of the official team challenged me intellectually in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I’ve always loved arguments, but college debate taught me how to slow down, listen, and sharpen my research into something meaningful—not just competitive. It’s one of the spaces where I feel most alive.

Outside of debate, I’ve been drawn to roles that help people feel seen and supported. On the Academic Policy Committee in UT Senate, I worked on initiatives to improve scholarship access and better reflect student voices in university policy. I also joined Project MALES, where I mentored middle school boys in Austin each week. Sometimes it was tutoring or goal-setting, and sometimes it was just showing up consistently—being someone they could count on. That experience reminded me how leadership often starts quietly, with presence.

My first year also pushed me to grow professionally. I interned this summer at Vinson and Elkins, a law firm in Houston, where I observed firmwide meetings and researched legal issues. It was my first time navigating a corporate environment, and I learned quickly how much behind-the-scenes work drives even the most public-facing decisions. It deepened my interest in law, but also reaffirmed that I want to be on the side of policy, specifically understanding how systems work and imagining how they could work better.

I care deeply about equity in education and access to opportunity. I see my studies in Government and Humanities as tools for impact, not just credentials. At UT, I’ve also been involved in the First-Year Leadership Organization in Student Government and the Academic Affairs Committee in Liberal Arts Council, both of which have allowed me to stay close to community-based service and advocacy. When I think about what it means to be a Dedman Scholar, I think about being in community with people who are driven—but also reflective, humble, and curious. I’m grateful to be in a cohort that pushes me not just to achieve, but to understand why I care about the work I’m doing. Looking ahead, I hope to continue learning, mentoring, and eventually pursue a career in public interest law or policy.