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Colorado State University awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship

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Mikaela Elder, a current participant in the Student Support Services Academic Advancement Center at Colorado State University, was recently awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.  Regarded as the most prestigious scholarship given to undergraduate students in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, it is granted annually to about 300 college students from across the country.  The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by the United States Congress in 1986 in honor of former U.S. Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Its goal is to provide a continuing source of professionals in STEM by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

 

Her motivation to pursue a career in STEM has been influenced by her own personal life experience with a genetic condition.   Diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Mast Cell Activation Disorder (MCAD) when she was twenty-one years old, Mikaela was determined to not to allow this health issue to negatively impact her from pursuing her goals.  In her words, “Though I struggle as times, I believe that POTS and MCAD have given me invaluable skills to manage stress and maintain a positive attitude, even through difficult situations.  This outlook has been an advantage to my education because I am now motivated by challenges instead of being intimidated by them.”

 

As a senior in the College of Natural Sciences at CSU pursuing a baccalaureate degree in biochemistry, Mikaela has conducted research involving proteins in relation to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.  She is also currently working on a bioinformatics project as well as a statistics research project involving methane gas at landfills.  Her career goal is to become a computational biologist for the Center for Disease Control or a medical institution where she can conduct research in mechanisms and factors affecting genetic diseases.  Her journey will continue after her graduation next May as she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computational biology or computational medicine.  “My research experience at CSU has shown me that research is my life’s calling,” Elder said. “I really enjoy the research process. I feel really fortunate to be at a place that prepares students to be amongst the best in the country.”

TRIO Day in Colorado

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TRIO Day was a huge hit! We invited all programs and their students throughout the state to celebrate with us in Denver at the State Capitol. We had over 100 attendees – the most we’ve seen so far, a lot of which had to drive for hours in the early morning to be there on a cold and snowy day! Also in attendance, were Senator Leroy Garcia, Representative Daneya Esgar, and Representative Colin Larson. We started the day with our Legislator Breakfast, where they addressed us as a whole and took questions. After the Legislators spoke, several students got up to share their own TRIO stories, which were raw, passionate, and inspiring. We then walked over to the State Capitol as a group to sit in on the General Assembly in the House of Representatives, where the TRIO Proclamation was read out loud to everyone. After the Assembly, we did our Service Learning Project. This year, we partnered with Project Angel Heart, which is a non-profit organization that prepares and delivers meals to those who are severely ill. We decorated brown paper bags in which the meals will be delivered in. After our Service Learning Project, we then had lunch, during which we spent time writing letters to our Representatives and Senators, which will be hand delivered during the Policy Seminar in March. To conclude our day, we unveiled a TRIO Promo Video, which we will use to hopefully recruit more TRIO professionals to get involved with ASPIRE and become members. We then heard more TRIO stories from students, and had some closing announcements. All in all, it was a fantastic day for both professionals and students. So many smiling faces, incredible stories, and love. For a lot of our students, it was their first time at the State Capitol, which made it even more of a great experience!

National TRIO Day 2016 Day of Service

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National TRIO Day of Service 2016

The mission of the Center for Human Enrichment/TRIO Student Support Services (CHE) program is to provide comprehensive academic services to support the academic, professional and personal success of 200 first-generation college students at the University of Northern Colorado. In recognition of National TRIO Day, the CHE program volunteered at the Weld Food Bank on March 5, 2016. The Weld Food Bank provides support through the following programs: Emergency Food Box Program, Commodity Supplement Food Program, Mobile Food Pantry, Kids Café, Backpack Program, and Summer Feeding support. During our day of service, we packaged over 3,200 pounds of onions for the organization. For more information about the Weld Food Bank, please visit www.weldfoodbank.org. For more information about CHE, please contact program director Shawanna Kimbrough at Shawanna.Kimbrough@unco.edu or 970-351-1905.