Embedded Files
Talking About Your Lambert Light Fellowship
A guide to sharing your Fellowship experience in school and college applications, interviews, resumes, and other opportunities.
Being selected as a Lambert Light Fellow means that educators, administrators, and community leaders have recognized your curiosity, creativity, character, and potential to contribute in meaningful ways. The Fellowship is an opportunity to build on those qualities, learn alongside young people of different ages and backgrounds, pursue your own interests, and discover how your ideas and inspirations can help shape the world around you.
50-word description:
Selected for a nine-month, invitation-based fellowship through Pseads Institute, joining 25 young people ages 12–24. Participate in interdisciplinary learning, mentorship, independent inquiry, creative projects, and community service. Develop an original project based on personal interests while strengthening skills in leadership, critical thinking, collaboration, and community engagement.
Resume description:
Lambert Light Fellow | Pseads Institute
October 2026 – June 2027
· Selected for a nine-month, invitation-based fellowship of 25 young people, recognizing intellectual curiosity, creativity, initiative, and potential.
· Participate in interdisciplinary learning, individualized mentorship, leadership development, and community service.
· Pursue independent inquiry and develop an original project connecting personal interests with meaningful community contribution.
Elevator pitch:
I was selected for the Lambert Light Fellowship, a nine-month, invitation-based program through Pseads Institute that brings together 25 young people, ages 12–24, recognized for their curiosity, creativity, initiative, and potential. The Fellowship combines interdisciplinary learning, individualized mentorship, independent inquiry, and community service. Each of us develops an original project based on our interests, with the opportunity to learn across generations, strengthen our leadership and research skills, and turn our ideas into meaningful contributions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Lambert Light Fellowship?
A nine-month, invitation-based Fellowship (October–June) created by Pseads Institute ("seeds"), a California educational nonprofit whose founders bring more than 20 years of experience developing innovative learning programs for schools and communities.
The 2026–27 cohort brings together just 25 Fellows, ages 12–24, spanning middle school, high school, college, and early career.
The Fellowship is designed to cultivate curiosity, creativity, independent thinking, leadership, and the confidence and ability to put ideas into action.
Fellows pursue intellectual and creative interests beyond the classroom, supported by experienced mentors, interdisciplinary learning, and collaboration with other Fellows.
Each Fellow works toward an original project, research inquiry, creative work, or community initiative in an area they personally care about.
About Pseads Institute
Pseads Institute (pronounced “seeds”) is a California educational nonprofit working to expand what’s possible in education and community by connecting knowledge with imagination, science with creativity, and learning with the world beyond the classroom. Its co-founders, Dr. Matthew Davis and Dr. Elizabeth Miller, have more than 20 years of experience in education, science, and program development, and Pseads programs have reached over 33,000 students and community members. Through science, ecology, literature, the arts, storytelling, and community engagement, Pseads helps people discover their voices, develop their ideas, and recognize their ability to contribute to the world around them at every age.
Who was Susan Lambert?
The Lambert Light Fellowship is named in honor of Susan Lambert, mother of Pseads co-founder Elizabeth, whose life and legacy helped inspire its creation. Susan was an educator, photographer, artist, and writer. Her life reflected a belief in the importance of curiosity, creativity, and seeing possibility in others. The Fellowship honors that spirit by investing in young people and giving them opportunities to discover and develop their own potential.
How are Fellows selected?
Fellows are identified and invited through recommendations from educators, school administrators, and community leaders.
Selection recognizes curiosity, creativity, generosity, initiative, and potential, looking beyond what a student has already achieved to recognize what they might become capable of doing.
The Fellowship intentionally brings together young people at different stages of their education, creating opportunities for learning across ages and diverse interests.
Fellows receive a stipend and make a nine-month commitment to learning, mentorship, independent work, and community contribution.
What makes the Fellowship different?
Learning across ages and generations: Fellows learn alongside people of different ages, including mentors whose experiences span different fields and profession.
Freedom to pursue your own ideas: Rather than completing the same assignment as everyone else, Fellows investigate questions that matter to them, with the freedom to discover where those questions lead.
Mentorship beyond the classroom: Fellows work with educators, professionals, and community leaders who help them think more deeply, develop their ideas, and navigate the process of bringing those ideas to life.
Learning across traditional subject boundaries: The Fellowship connects science, humanities, arts, research, storytelling, and real-world questions.
From ideas to original work: Fellows learn how to develop an initial question or idea through exploration, research, challenges, and revision, working toward something original they can create, share, or contribute to their communities. Learning how to develop an idea, navigate uncertainty, and follow it through is a skill that extends far beyond any single project.
What do Fellows actually do?
Over nine months, Fellows:
Participate in workshops, discussions, and collaborative learning experiences.
Explore questions about themselves, their communities, and the wider world.
Build skills in critical thinking, research, communication, creative problem-solving, and project development.
Meet with mentors who help them investigate interests, develop ideas, and navigate challenges.
Collaborate with Fellows of different ages and educational backgrounds.
Participate in community service and youth-led initiatives.
Develop an original project or meaningful contribution, supported by mentors and the Fellowship community.
Why does the Fellowship matter?
The larger purpose of the Fellowship is to help young people discover what matters to them, develop the confidence and skills to pursue it, and recognize that they don’t have to wait to make a meaningful contribution to the world.
The Fellowship is built on the following beliefs:
Young people have something to contribute now, not just when they’re older.
Education is more than academic achievement. It’s also about developing imagination, judgment, character, empathy, and a sense of responsibility to other people and the planet we share.
Great ideas need more than inspiration. They need investigation, persistence, collaboration, and willingness to adapt, revise, and keep learning.
Individual growth and community contribution belong together. What we learn and create becomes more meaningful when we also put it to work in service of others.
How does the Fellowship connect to future opportunities?
Whether you’re applying to a high school, college, internship, job, or another program, your Fellowship experience can help you demonstrate qualities that matter beyond the classroom:
Intellectual curiosity: Going beyond what’s assigned to pursue questions and ideas.
Independence and initiative: Taking ownership of learning, exploring unfamiliar territory, and following through on commitments.
Community and contribution: Recognizing that being part of a community means both benefiting from it and helping it thrive.
Collaboration across differences: Learning with people of different ages, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
Mentorship and relationships: Seeking guidance, welcoming feedback, and learning from teachers, advisors, and peers.
Creativity and critical thinking: Connecting ideas across subjects, asking thoughtful questions, and approaching challenges in original ways.
Leadership and responsibility: Recognizing opportunities to take initiative, support others, and translate ideas into constructive action.
How can you talk about your own Fellowship experience?
The Fellowship provides opportunities, but your story comes from what interests you, what you choose to pursue, and what you discover along the way. When talking with teachers, administrators, admissions officers, employers, or others, you might think about:
Why you were interested: What do you hope to explore and learn?
What you’re discovering: What questions, ideas, or experiences are emerging?
What you’re pursuing: What questions, ideas, or experiences are you excited to expand on? And what community experiences interest you?
What you’re learning from others: How are mentors or other Fellows challenging, encouraging, and expanding your thinking?
How you’re growing: What have you tried, struggled with, changed your mind about, or learned to do?
Experiences you might not otherwise have had: Who have you met? How might your experiences influence you going forward?
Being a Fellow means being willing to ask questions, try new things, learn from others, and discover where your interests and ideas might lead.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse