Joseph Spooner, Associate Director, Office of Career Counseling/Director of Fellowships and Advanced Study, Williams College

Q: How did you decide to work in the field of fellowships and why do you find it rewarding?
A: Chrissie Prichard. I encouraged her to apply for several fellowships available to community college students because, at the time, she was the most remarkable student I had ever encountered, but she resisted, insisting that there was “nothing special about her.” She finally relented, and we met every Monday night for three months to talk about her future and to review drafts of her applications. The process taught her so much about herself and she transformed right before my eyes. I knew after that experience, this was the teaching/learning experience for which I had been searching, the chance to help extraordinary people discover their goals, their potential, and themselves.

Q: If you could invite three people (living or dead) to dinner who would they be and why?
A: Gosh, I really shouldn’t draw a blank on this one, right? Greg Maddux, Thomas Pynchon, my paternal grandfather. I would like a chance to understand what drives/drove them all in a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Q: Tell us about a community service project that you currently participate in or have participated in that has meaning for you.
A: Rock the Vote, 2004, Chipola (FL) College: Sixteen, 18-19 year old students worked 60 hour weeks, in between classes and jobs, for four months to organize something almost no one thought could be done. It’s still the best example of student leaders collaborating for a fantastic cause that I have ever seen.

Q: What are you reading this summer and why?
A: Do drafts of Fulbright proposals count? I started reading The Life of Pi on vacation, but ran out of vacation. [Please, no one tell me how it ends.]

Q: If there’s life after fellowship-advising, what would you like to do and why?
A: Manage the Atlanta Braves when Bobby Cox retires. That would leave me five months in the off season to write and spend lazy days with my significant other and my nephews.