Representing Lehman College in the 2025 cohort of Jeanette K. Watson Foundation Fellows, freshman Zoe Tagoe and sophomore Marisa Miechphon are anticipating a busy summer.
Tagoe and Miechphon join an elite group of 15 students from public and private institutions across the City—all selected from a pool of several hundred applicants. Watson provides three years of paid summer internships in different fields and locations, along with intensive mentoring and robust educational, cultural, and professional development opportunities. Fellows receive annual funding up to $10,000 in addition to a $2,000 Discovery Fund to develop their personal, professional, and cultural potential.
“I want to learn how to be a role model and a leader and leave an impact on people,” said Tagoe, a Bronx native and ambitious first-year student double majoring in Exercise Science and English/Creative Writing.
Inspired by watching her mother work with a physical therapist after surgery, Tagoe recognized the importance of positive therapeutic relationships to recovery. She enrolled at Lehman with the goal of becoming a physical therapist herself. Now with the Watson Fellowship, she’ll be better equipped to pursue her dream: a clinic offering a holistic range of therapies and activities, including a space for gardening.
“I love how therapeutic it is to take care of plants and see them grow before your eyes,” she said. “I want to bring something good to the community that has given me so much.”
Tagoe has learned that she will be interning at the Alliance for Downtown New York, an organization that provides service and advocacy to enhance the quality of life in Lower Manhattan, where she'll be liaising with the area's small businesses.
“Watson will give me skills outside of academics and career interests—networking, learning about different fields, and new perspectives. Even in New York City I’ll get to experience places I never would have gone to.”
Marisa Miechphon, a second-year chemistry major in the Macaulay Honors College at Lehman, hopes the Watson Fellowship will help her discover unconventional uses for her major.
In fact, her interest in chemistry was inspired by a family friend who is a flavorist, someone who develops and synthesizes flavoring compounds for foods—not the most common career goal for a college chemistry major. Since getting to Lehman, however, her interests have evolved into broader issues around sustainable energy and human impact on the environment.
“I’m open to trying different things, but without experience it’s hard to get a job,” she said. “The Watson Fellowship provides an opportunity to try something new—and maybe I’ll like it even more than what I am doing now.”
Miechphon learned she will intern with the New York Stem Cell Foundation. "As a chemistry major, I hear a lot about medicine as a field to look into in terms of a potential career. I'm interested to see what that might look like outside of a lab," she said.
Joining a cohort of peers with different majors and interests is a big draw. “You get to learn from a community of people who are all different from each other, which is hard to do when you are taking classes to fulfill your major,” Miechphon said. "So far, it's been a really enlightening experience, and I'm excited to see how we all grow together."
“The new class of Watson Fellows represents the character, convictions and aspirations of America's most inspiring student leaders. We look forward to introducing them to the Watson Community and supporting their personal, professional and cultural growth,” said Chris Kasabach, Watson Foundation executive director.
For more information on the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship and other student opportunities, contact the Office of Prestigious Awards.