Catchin' Up With a Cookie: Brittany Fischer
Brittany Fischer
2015 College Scholar, University of Florida, 2019 Graduate Scholar, Smith College
Brittany is a social worker, aspiring physician, and a recent graduate of the Master of Social Work program at Smith College School for Social Work. They hope to deepen the theoretical and experiential knowledge they have developed in social work regarding mental health, the social determinants of health, and social inequities, to the medical arena. Brittany is passionate about the biopsychosocial model of health and hopes to treat patients and their complex issues in an intersectional and holistic manner.
She approaches this next phase of her professional journey with humility and interests in family medicine, psychiatry, and LGTBQ+ health issues. In her free time, she loves exploring nature and having meaningful conversations with friends. Brittany is also the Regional Chapter Leader for the Triangle (North Carolina) cohort of Cooke Scholars and Alumni as well as a member of the Alumni Engagement Council. Through these roles, she organizes gatherings and facilitates connections for the scholar and alumni communities.
What does being a Cooke Scholar mean to you?
Being a Cooke Scholar means being a part of a community of Scholars that uplifts one another as we each pursue our own journeys of personal and professional fulfillment. As a teenager, I became a youth caregiver to my mother who suffered a stroke. For this and other reasons, both familial and economic, I knew that I would need to find a means to fund my undergraduate studies. I discovered the College Scholarship program through one of my many late-night scholarship searches on Google during my senior year of high school, and immediately applied. When I received a call that I had received the scholarship, I was astonished, which is in line with my lifelong struggles with imposter syndrome. The Cooke Foundation representative who shared the good news with me said they were surprised by my utter sense of calmness. (For those who know me and my calm demeanor, this may not come as a surprise!)
While I still occasionally have feelings of self-doubt to be part of such an outstanding community, this insecurity has largely been replaced by immense gratitude and pride. As I have gotten older, the support from the Foundation and fellow Cooke Scholars and Alumni has grown in importance to me. My childhood was very turbulent at times, and despite family members who did their very best, the reverberating effects of intergenerational trauma shadowed much of my upbringing. Thus, I went into college without a clear blueprint of how my life would look as an adult. Being part of such a supportive and inclusive community has meant the world to me and is a reality that my teenage self couldn’t imagine. I feel extraordinarily grateful to all who have helped me in my path to make this possible for me. It is truly an honor to be part of the Cooke family.
Tell us about a memorable moment in undergrad or graduate school.
My heart feels warm thinking about the many memorable moments that have brightened my academic journey. Most recently while finishing my Master of Social Work, I spent the summer in Northampton, Massachusetts at Smith College, whose lovely campus and vibrancy in the summertime I will never forget. Due to the pandemic, the majority of my coursework was completed remotely, and thus I had ten weeks to connect with peers who, aside from an informal gathering or two, I had only met online at this point. As aspiring clinical social workers, the curriculum requires intense vulnerability and a fierce examination of the self, including interrogating one’s biases and identities intersectionally. Thus, when I finally met my peers, it felt like I knew so much about them, and them about me. At the same time, I felt as if I were fully meeting each of them for the first time. We were familiar strangers carrying each other home through the collective grief of a worldwide pandemic and the academic demands of graduate school. In the midst of our final summer of classes, we were all craving a sense of levity, and thus karaoke nights in the botanical garden were born.
During multiple evenings throughout the summer, students would congregate in the grassy area adjacent to the botanical garden to sing karaoke, dance, laugh, lay in the grass together, and look at the stars. A testament to the creativity and ingenuity of my peers, someone managed to find a power source and connect a stained glass lamp, twinkly lights, and a karaoke machine to make these gatherings truly memorable. As a generally shy and reserved person, I pushed myself to do a duet and sing a few songs with friends, including “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence. As budding social workers, I already deeply admired my colleagues for their ability to bear witness to profound suffering, but these experiences allowed me to connect with them as multifaceted humans having fun. Karaoke nights reminded me that the pain and joy of the human experience can coexist, and it also reminded me of the importance of making time for nourishing social connections as a form of self-care and an antidote to professional burnout.
What is a piece of advice you would give to someone who is getting ready to graduate from their undergraduate degree?
Graduating with your undergraduate degree is a time of great transition with many moving pieces. Oftentimes, the connections you have invested so much time and energy to cultivate and maintain over the past several years will take a different role in your life as new opportunities lead people to relocate. The emotional and physical upheaval that all of this change entails can seem abrupt and intense. Recognizing that everyone navigates transitions differently, I would encourage a budding graduate to find an anchor that will stabilize them during this major turning point in their life. This could be an activity that you have previously found solace in, such as a movement practice or creative endeavor, as well as a community space, such as a spiritual or religious group or intramural sport, that makes you feel connected to your body and/or something greater than yourself. Even something as simple as a regular phone call with a friend who knows you and can bear witness to you (and vice versa) can be so beneficial.
What was the last book you read, movie/show you watched, or podcast you listened to that you really enjoyed and highly recommended?
A podcast that I have found nourishing over these past couple of years is The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema. Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis is a psychologist, minister, and sacred artist who shares her personal and professional wisdom to help people come home to themselves. Episodes center around navigating common human experiences, such as “Releasing Regret”, “Addressing Motivation”, and “Embracing New Beginnings”, in a manner that is warm, pragmatic, and acknowledges the impact of systems of oppression on individuals’ struggles. I have found the episodes to be grounding, insightful, and thought-provoking as I do my own inner work and self-reflection.
If you were to create your own cookie, what would it consist of and what name would you give it?
As a Portuguese-American non-binary femme, I feel compelled to create a cookie that somehow encapsulates these aspects of my identity. My maternal grandparents were bakers and immigrated from the island of São Miguel, in the Azores of Portugal, to Southeastern Massachusetts. Thus, baked goods have a special place in my heart (and stomach), and while I can bake, I don’t always trust myself to follow the recipe. Nevertheless, from my chaotic imagination, if a Portuguese biscoito (a traditional biscuit cookie) and a Half Moon cookie had a cookie baby, a Half Moon biscoito could be born, and the world would be a little brighter.