When Nyasia Lloyd was earning her master’s degree, she was selected for an exciting internship opportunity at the Hunt Institute that she unfortunately had to turn down. For years, she has wondered how accepting such an internship may have shaped her career. 

Now Lloyd, who is earning her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development in the NC State College of Education, feels like she has received another opportunity through her selection as one of 16 of the Hunt Institute’s John M. Belk Impact Fellows. 

“This opportunity feels like a full-circle moment for me,” Lloyd said. “For years, I wondered where that [original] opportunity might have taken me. Now, I have the opportunity to answer that question. Being selected for this fellowship feels like a second chance to explore a path that I’ve always wondered about.” 

The John M. Belk Impact Fellowship is a 10-month program that serves as a training ground for future generations of leaders through exposure to the inner workings of organizations that are currently playing vital roles across North Carolina’s educational landscape. 

Lloyd will complete her internship at the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, where she also works as a research associate. 

The internship experience, she said, will allow her to focus on some of the goals that led her to her doctoral program in the College of Education, including developing stronger skills in data analysis, policy analysis and data visualization. 

“I hope to use this experience to strengthen my overall scholarship and become more confident using data to tell meaningful stories that inform policy and practice,” Lloyd said. 

Lloyd was drawn to the College of Education for her Ph.D. because she was impressed with the faculty she met and wanted to be part of a “top-notch research institution” while still having a community of peers and faculty to collaborate with. 

Her work as a research associate with the Belk Center, she said, has been an important part of her College of Education experience, providing her immediate opportunities to apply what she’s learning in her coursework to real-world research. 

“The experience has also helped me see how the skills I am developing through my Ph.D. can be used to support community college leaders and inform policy and practice,” she said.

This post was originally published in College of Education News.