Has anyone seen Scandal? Like most of you, I am stuck at home with fewer extracurriculars and structured activities to fill my days. One of the upsides to this predicament is that I’ve had time to watch shows that I’d otherwise have barely any time to watch at school. I started Scandal a couple of weeks ago and am now in the middle of season three (I’m a n00b at binge-watching, I know) but by the time you read this, Fitz’ re-election will hopefully be in full swing and Olivia will have found out the truth about Operation Remington. I’m not really a ~show person~ to begin with and rarely follow through on shows that have been recommended to me so when I tell you this show is good…it! is! riveting!
After a little online searching, I found out that Bellamy Young, who plays First Lady Mellie Grant in the show, went to Yale. She initially studied physics but then graduated with degrees in English and theater. Though as her ambitious, multi-talented character has somewhat merged with her real self in my mind, I wouldn’t put it past Mellie/Bellamy to be working on fluid dynamics problems in between takes. As if being First Lady (at this point in the show she’s still First Lady, no spoilers please) weren’t enough, she also sponsors a scholarship for a Yale student on financial aid.
First Lady, physics enthusiast, generous donor, Yalie
If your family has financial need, Yale will cover part or all of the costs of going to school here. This financial aid is generously funded in part by alumni donations, including, apparently, those from Bellamy Young! You can find out who supports your financial aid if they choose to disclose their identity, and then you can personally tell them “thanks for tuition!” Bellamy discovered that Richard Light sponsored her four years of college and wrote to him in gratitude when she graduated. This guy also supports a sweet fellowship for the intensive study of East Asian languages in China, Korea, and Japan for summer studies and year-long immersions.
Bellamy sang in Mixed Company, a Yale a cappella group, which also counts among its alumni my super cool admissions office boss. (Not that I have a boss; he wouldn’t want me to emphasize that blogging is a paid job and that I don’t just do it out of the goodness of my heart.) But jobs are great and you can definitely get one here and balance it with being a full-time student-musician-athlete-scientist-inventor-future president (OK, there’s a subtle spoiler). Working a student job makes you more independent, helps you practice responsibility, and often allows you to work with other students. Whether it’s shelving books at the library or selling tickets for athletic events at Payne Whitney Gym, there’s a job out there for you.
Another cool Yale thing is College Teas. Hosted by each residential college, College Teas are intimate speaker events that are typically moderated by heads of college in their common room or house. Some guests whose teas I have attended are Min Jin Lee, who wrote Pachinko, and Allison Williams, who starred as Marnie on HBO’s Girls. PLEASE MAKE THIS BLOG POST GO VIRAL SO BELLAMY CAN COME BACK TO YALE AND GIVE A COLLEGE TEA (IDEALLY IN SAYBROOK). I’m actually having a bit of trouble finding out more about her college days so this tea would be awesome! She also changed her name to Bellamy when she joined the Screen Actors Guild because there was another Amy Young already on the list so that has made tracking her down a little tricky.
Yale Alumni Network?? Do your thing! Find (Bell)amy Young and bring her back to Yale! Tea’s on us.
Min Jin Lee at the Davenport College Tea last year
