The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 4 609 • “I was able to connect with other scholars of color and the resources provided by the Foundation.” • “Through the fellowship, I have developed professional and personal relationships that have resulted in jobs, consultation opportunities, and peer networks.” • “Networking has been the key element of the fellowship.” • “It has provided invaluable contacts and collegial relationships that are invaluable.” • “The fellowship was instrumental in making connections with other counselor educators. We have done presentations at conferences together as well as sharing our experiences in counselor education. Also, we have shared resources.” The following responses also merge into the next subtheme related to the benefit of supportive cohort members: • “I continue to benefit from the fellowship experience through connections with other fellows and by continuing to plow the ground cleared during the fellowship experience.” • “This fellowship has connected me with many leaders in the profession that I would not have been able to connect with. It has also provided another cohort of peers to receive support and encouragement from when career challenges become overwhelming and discouraging.” The next subtheme, supportive cohort, reflects how the camaraderie, encouragement, and relationships developed with cohort members acted as positive reinforcement throughout the doctoral CES experience. Statements emphasized the respondents’ healthy dependence on the MFP cohort model, in which members may provide motivation and guidance even beyond the fellowship year: • “My NBCC MFP cohort is my family. I have continued the relationships with other cohort members, and we share resources with one another as well as support one another in the work we are doing.” • “The network of fellows has been my peer group and support system since 2013.” • “The group has guided me through my dissertation and job search.” • “The relationships built from the fellowship provided a long-lasting impact in my professional development.” The penultimate subtheme, financial support, described how the $20,000 financial grant offered to doctoral-level fellows aided in their ability to successfully complete their CES doctoral education: • “The fellowship provided a financial opportunity that allowed me to graduate with less debt. Even more so, it has provided an invaluable professional network.” • “It has changed my life and my career. Being part of the NBCC family is amazing! Taking leaps of faith with the money was the best thing I could have ever done.” • “The NBCC fellowship has meant the world to me because otherwise I would have been in a significant amount of debt in completing my doctoral studies. In the last year of the doctoral program, our school did not provide any funding, so the fellowship brought me to the finish line so that I could initiate my career as a counselor educator.”
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