[My Story]

My name is Alex Tolbert. I go to classes and drink coffee but occasionally I find myself traveling the world exploring the absolute beauty this planet has to offer. I'm currently a sophomore at Washington and Jefferson College( http://www.washjeff.edu/ ) studying International Relations, Conflict Resolution Studies, and Computer Science. I'm an avid mountaineer, student councilman and a passionate conservationist, but I also know how to call in a 9 Line MEDEVAC and use the Coriolis Effect equation to shoot a target at 1000 yards. I'm one of the lucky, humble few, recipients to receive the opportunity of a lifetime; The Magellan Scholarship.

 

The Magellan Scholarship, or better known as 'The Magellan Project', is one of the most prestigious scholarship programs in the nation. It's a scholarship that's available only to Washington and Jefferson College students that allows them to study ANYTHING. Have you ever dreamed of diving with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa with a team of researchers, or maybe studying neuroscience at the University of Paris? I'm 19 years old, and I conducted an independent cross cultural research project on the strategic, tactical, and operational usage of Israeli Security Forces in Israel, the Israeli settlements, and the Palestinian territories and its effects on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The idea is to give students the incredible opportunity to conduct an independent research assignment on their academic interest of choice. I would have never imagined that I would be living in Jerusalem researching the most debated International Relations topic in the geo-political field, but that's before I became a Magellan Scholar.