This year a total of 300 sophomores and juniors from North and South America received Goldwater Scholarships, two of which are Colorado College students.
Due to their commitment to the mathematic and scientific fields, Melissa Jay and Brooke Davis were each awarded a scholarship.
“The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is an undergraduate award given to sophomores and juniors who are interested in pursuing a career in science, math, or engineering,” Jay said.
This description fits Jay’s interests perfectly.
“I am interested in a career in biostatistics which is the field of statistics applied to medical research,” she said. “I hope to work as a biostatistical consultant or lead researching biostatistician after graduate school.”
Both Jay and Davis had learned about the scholarship through their professors.
Similarly, Davis was nominated by a professor two years in a row, and decided to submit an application both times.
In the past, Davis had been recognized for her research on a smaller scale. “In high school, I was recognized for my research on beluga whales and went with a delegation from Conneticut to the National Science Fair in Washington DC,” she said. “I applied [for the Goldwater Scholarship] because I guess I wanted to see how I compared to the rest of the country’s STEM students.”
The application process is long and tedious.
“In November, I had to apply internally to receive a nomination from CC,” Jay said. “Only four students per academic institution may be nominated. After receiving the nomination, I had to apply for the scholarship through the Barry Goldwater Scholarship Foundation.”
“I had to write an essay about my own research experience and where it will take me in the future,” Davis added. “Additionally, there were some other short answer questions about research experience and future plans.”
Davis explained that CC gave her lots of opportunities to become a strong applicant and excel in the field that she is so passionate about.
“Colorado College has made it possible for me to study abroad on two different field research oriented programs,” Davis said. “As a result, I have extensive research experience and am authoring two different journal articles.”
It is clear that Davis takes much pride in coming form a small school.
“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t gain valuable research experience at a small school; its just not true!” she said.
After receiving the scholarship, students are provided with money to go toward their tuition. “The Goldwater is just a monetary scholarship to help with senior year expenses,” Davis said. “So for me it will mean graduating with significantly less debt than I originally planned.”
While Jay and Davis were the only students to receive the Goldwater Scholarship this year, there are plenty of other competitive scholarships being awarded to CC students.
One of these students, Annaliese Schroeder, was selected to be a Fulbright Scholar.
“The ETA Fulbright Scholarship in South Korea is a grant that gives me the opportunity to teach English in Korea, partake in cross-cultural engagement, and gain a new perspective on education.” Schroeder said.
“An important aspect of the grant is being an Ambassador of the U.S. in Korea,” Schroeder continued. “The award is a 13-month program with the chance to renew the grant for an additional two years [which varies country to country].”
These collective awards prove that regardless of Colorado College’s size, the student body is just as capable of competing with the larger schools for awards such as these.
“As I said before, I am proud that I can hold my own against students from big research universities,” Davis said. “Just because we go to a small liberal arts school does not mean that we can’t excel in the sciences.”