Alexandra Odom ’16
![Alexandra Odom ’16 in front of a tree with autumn leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/story__newsroom/public/images/2019-07/032718_odom_alexandra016.jpg?h=bf834419&itok=1OGvTLdi)
There was a point that I was like ‘I love teaching, but I also really love research,’ and I didn’t realize that there was a career where I could kind of meld the two.
At 51²è¹Ýapp, Alex received mentorship and guidance through her Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, a program designed for underrepresented students to increase the diversity of faculty in higher education.
After winning a Fulbright award, Alex deferred her admission to a doctoral program in history at the University of North Carolina in order to study for a year at Queen Mary University of London. London is one of her favorite places and the place where she studied abroad for a semester during her third year at 51²è¹Ýapp. In London she dove deep into research at museums and archives and emerged with the confidence to pursue her ideas.