March 21, 2025

At Bennington, students spend six weeks every year taking their skills and knowledge out of the classroom and applying them in the world of work. They use this annual work-learning opportunity—known as Field Work Term—to deepen their studies, challenge and test new ideas, and hone their direction for the future.

Please describe your Field Work Term. What was your position and with what organization?

I was a two-time fellow with the Vermont Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and this is the second time I have worked with them. I received the Newman and Cox Public Action Fellowship, which allowed me to work in person with the Commission when I was unable to do last year, and through this opportunity I was able to visit Town Clerk offices, local libraries, and the Bennington Museum, as well as take a field trip with my Supervisor Mia Schultz out to the Vermont State Archives in Montpelier, VT.

It was also a paid internship fellowship through them, and what makes this especially meaningful is the origin story of this opportunity. I was their first intern ever last year and felt blessed that they were willing to work with me, not having known how mutual the feeling was. I was a first-year student and had reached out to multiple sites, only to be ghosted by all of them. The Commission’s willingness to work with me right as the deadline was upon me last winter meant I wouldn't have to postpone and that I would be working with a section of the VT government entirely aligned with my advocacy goals.

Little did I know that they were so pleased with my work they built an entire internship/fellowship program and allocated funds to adequately pay their workers, which not only allowed me to receive compensation, but also meant that this past winter they had nearly 20 interns working all over the country to dig up research, amplify marginalized voices, and help the V-TRC create a platform for their truth-telling phase of their mission, which they are now beginning.

Now I can say I have soared in ways I never thought possible for myself.

- Lindsey Leggett '27

What was your day-to-day experience in the job?

Admittedly, my day-to-day experience was not what I expected it to be, though it was quite varied, which meant I was always kept on my toes. Some days, I worked entirely out of my room or the Coffee Bar in town, and others, I was on the road to Town Clerk Offices looking for documents or riding over two hours away to visit the State Archives to trace family lineages in hopes that I might be able to piece together the stories of folks who passed through or died in the Brattleboro Retreat in the 20th century.

I also Zoomed with many folks to conduct interviews and hear their stories, including with Reverend Ken Clarke from the Old First Church of Bennington, and this remains one of my favorite memories of the experience! 

What was the most enjoyable part of your experience?  

I loved meeting with folks face to face, which was a huge reason I applied for the Fellowship and sought to engage with the work in person. One individual, Jane Radocchia, who is an architect and historian, came all the way from New York to meet me on campus to talk, and she gave me the most wonderful advice when I was at a slump in my research, having hit many walls and dead ends. She said, "You just have to keep going, keep asking folks, anyone you can reach, because when you least expect it, one of them will finally sit you down and say 'you know what, I have a story to tell you,' and that's how you find things."

What was the most challenging?

As much as I hate to admit this, because I thought I was more prepared, the winter was really brutal, even when I wasn't always traveling for my work. The night falling so early in the evening, coupled with temperatures in the negatives for days on end–not to mention how many offices I would have loved to visit were closed over this period–meant that sometimes the days felt simultaneously long and easily fleeting.

I also didn't get to do nearly as much of my work in person and off the computer screen as I would have liked, and this made it really difficult to feel accomplished, motivated, and to stay focused. Not only do I not work best in front of a screen for 7-8 hours a day, but I also hoped the V-TRC would be able to give me work that would pull me off screen more than they ultimately did. I think I realized I came in at an awkward transition time for them as they were seeking a third commissioner, and I also realized I could have fought more to offer up my strengths and communicate my needs; this was an invaluable lesson to learn for myself moving forward.

How do you expect that the work you did or the skills you learned will impact your Plan?

I think they undoubtedly inform my future work and have underscored the certainty I've been brushing aside: that my Plan is exactly where I want it to be. More importantly, though, my ability to push through the work, even when I was struggling with feelings of inadequacy and perfectionism, showed me that I'm capable of realizing what I'm expressing interest in doing professionally in a salient way, which I have been too afraid to own up until now, having believed I need to earn this feeling.

What is the value of Field Work Term at Bennington? 

Sometimes I question this intrinsically, as I wrestle with the difficulty of finding a site that will host me and of not being able to access the work I most want to do, but I think any experience can equip you with merit that will allow you the space to fight for positions you want and to which you believe you are capable of contributing great things.

Yes, I loved and felt that the V-TRC was and is incredibly relevant in content and mission to the work I want to do professionally, but I don't want to be a historian; I want to be a community organizer, anti-carceral psychologist, and a published writer. Having had the opportunity to work with the V-TRC two years in a row, towards the end of this experience I fought to take an angle on my research that I felt the V-TRC hadn't tapped into yet, despite immense fear that I might have come off too confident or noviced in my proposal.

I turned in my 55-page research report hoping I gave them something with which to work, despite worrying I hadn't done or said or found enough, only to receive a message less than 2 weeks into the term that they were presenting my research at a public meeting because of how impressed they were at what I found. I was speechless, and all the same, grateful that by proxy of being required to complete a FWT, and alongside this, knowing I'd do everything possible to have a meaningful one, I was granted the opportunity to push myself out of nest. Now I can say I have soared in ways I never thought possible for myself.