Taking Ownership of Her Education: Anastasia Wood’s ECGS experience
NEW ORLEANS, LA (February 16, 2026)- Applications for the Emerson Collective Graduate School (ECGS) grants are now open and will remain so until February 25, 2026. ECGS supports College Track college graduates who enroll in graduate schools and choose to pursue fields in Law, STEM, Health, and Education.
For College Track and ECGS alumni like Anastasia Woods, she’s proof that taking ownership of your education and opportunities can lead to a rewarding journey of learning. A College Track alumna and former College Track New Orleans scholar, Anastasia received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Health and Sociology from Franklin & Marshall College. After graduation, she sought to answer a question many graduates face: “What’s next?”
At the time, Anastasia didn’t yet know this would become a recurring question, leading her on a journey of exploration as she discovered where her commitment to making change would lie. Promptly after graduation, she connected with her College Track community, which opened up a pathway she had yet to explore: Administrative Work.
Reflecting on this chapter as an Operations Coordinator, she remarks, “What I really appreciated about College Track is that it provided a space for me to build community… It was great because it opened up a pathway professionally that I never really explored, which is admin work.” She added, “Everyone who is a part of the College Track community, in my opinion, is a mentor. There is an innate mentorship that comes along with being part of this organization.”
As an Operations Coordinator, Anastasia and her community recognized this was still the beginning of her exploration journey, and together, they collectively asked the question she answered once before, “What’s Next?”
Strategically determining her next move with their encouragement, Anastasia mapped out a plan to work at a college while taking classes there. From there, she applied for an administrative position at Tulane University, leveraging the knowledge she had gained as an Operations Coordinator. A few months later, she began her Master’s of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health, utilizing funds from the ECGS grant to support her educational journey.
Research has always interested Anastasia, and in college, she began researching Maternal Health. Troubled by the racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes, she decided to fully step in at Tulane in pursuits to “rebirth” our healthcare system. She recalls, “When I started my Master’s of Public Health program in Tulane, I was fortunate that they had a tailored department where I was around folks who specialize in studying maternal and child health outcomes in public health.”
The question, “What’s Next?” prompted Anastasia to continue her exploration, utilizing her curiosity from taking ownership of learning opportunities in Administrative Work at College Track to Tulane University, and then a Master’s of Public Health.
After graduation, Anastasia went on to pursue her Nursing Midwifery degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She chose this pathway to cultivate a welcoming sacred space that honors individuals’ and families’ pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and primary care health experiences. Through ECGS grant support, Anastasia was able to solely focus on her craft as a budding midwife and full-time graduate student without being hindered by financial burdens.
Today, she is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and a member of the inaugural College Track Alumni Council. As a nurse-midwife, she now helps others discover their own answers to this recurring life question, “What’s Next?” And, you know what else? Anastasia welcomes the next generation of learners, newborns, into their own communities, knowing that one day, like her, they will also embark on a path of lifelong exploration.
Ready to start your own adventure? Apply for the ECGS grants to support your graduate school pursuits, here: https://app.smarterselect.com/programs/102893
For more information, please visit the ECGS grants page, https://sites.google.com/collegetrack.org/ecgs2026/home.