Christie Hunter '06 was selected as Bermuda's Rhodes Scholar for 2007 and will soon be headed to Keble College at Oxford University.
Hunter, who came to Brown from Bermuda in 2002, decided to go back to the small island nation after her graduation and worked as a human capital consultant at Deloitte Bermuda, an advising, tax and consulting organization.
Hunter did not decide to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship until after she graduated from Brown.
Every year, Bermuda selects one Rhodes Scholar in a process that is independent from the Rhodes Scholarship for U.S. applicants. Applicants submit an application that includes essays and recommendations and attend an interview consisting of a round-table discussion with eight Rhodes representatives.
"You go in there blindly and you don't know anyone in there," Hunter said. "It's really intense. They really examine your reasons for study."
The round table asks questions mainly on politics, including both domestic issues in Bermuda and international issues.
"They really want people who are aware of their surroundings and the world," Hunter said.
In order to prepare for the interview, Hunter came back to the United States to receive interview training at Brown's Career Development Center.
The Rhodes Scholarship is among the many awards and recognitions that Hunter has won over the years, including the 2001 Bermuda Institute of Chartered Accountants' Outstanding Student Award, Bermuda's National Teen Leadership Award and the Fessenden Trot Academic Scholarship.
Hunter graduated from Brown with a bachelor's degree in political science. At Oxford, Hunter plans to either study management, in which case she plans to write her thesis on gender and communication in the workplace, or law, where she plans to focus on women's rights.
"Brown's great because you can take courses in other academic areas, which is where (I found) a passion for women's studies," Hunter said, explaining why she plans on relating her path of study back to gender issues. "It really contributed to who I am right now, to (my) personal and academic development."
Her senior year, Hunter took ENGN 1930F: "Entrepreneurship and Good Work: Engineering Dreams," a senior seminar. Josef Mittlemann, adjunct professor in engineering, taught the class and wrote one of Hunter's eight recommendations for her application.
"She always moved the action along in class," Mittlemann said. "She was very insightful. She was an active participant."
On examinations, Hunter always chose to answer the most challenging question option, Mittlemann said in the recommendation. It was also in one of his class papers that Hunter expressed her wishes to combine her international relations background with her passion for women's rights.
Hunter has a passion for debate that she has been nursing since the age of 12. Since 2000, Hunter has represented Bermuda in the World Schools Debating Championships in the United States as well as internationally in countries such as South Africa and Singapore. After her graduation, she participated as a judge in the championships in Wales.
Keriann Backus '07 won an American Rhodes scholarship this year and will also join Hunter at Oxford this fall.
