Academia can be a competitive landscape, but for two doctoral candidates completing their PhD studies in May 2024 at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, it has been an opportunity to lift each other up. The educational journeys of Adriane Clomax (she/her) and Rory O’Brien (they/them) mirrored each other as recipients of the Oakley Fellowship endowed by the USC Provost. Only eight such fellowships are awarded to PhD candidates university-wide each year. As they now embark on the next phase of their social work careers, both have secured presidential postdoctoral fellowships from two of the leading universities in the country to further the exemplary work they began at USC.
“I always tell Rory they are my good luck charm,” said Clomax. “We need to keep applying to things together.”