Six MSU students have been nominated for the highly competitive Marshall Scholarship, Mitchell Scholarship and Rhodes Scholarship, according to a press release from the Honors College.
The nominees are Honors College undergraduate students Margaret Born, Rebecca Carlson, Eamon Devlin, Clara Lepard and Alana O’Mara and alumnus Joel Arnold.
MSU has produced 18 Marshall Scholars, one Mitchell Scholar and 17 Rhodes Scholars, according to the release. All of the scholarships support U.S. citizens attending graduate school in the United Kingdom or Ireland.
The Scholarships:
Marshall Scholarship: The Marshall Scholarship finances 40 students that the commissioners find have a wide range of skills, are independent, are talented and will utilize their time as a scholar to grow both personally and intellectually. Marshall scholars are given the opportunity to attended a United Kingdom institution at the graduate level in any field.
Mitchell Scholarship: The George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program was established by The US-Ireland Alliance. It selects 12 students to fund for a year of graduate study in Ireland and Northern Ireland based on scholarship, leadership and a sustained commitment to community and public service, according to its website.
Rhodes Scholarship: The oldest and most celebrated international fellowship in the world, according to its website, Rhodes Scholarships select 32 undergraduate students to study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom based on their potential for leadership in their future fields, their commitment to others and the common good, their character and their scholarly achievements. The Rhodes Trust provides full financial support to scholars.
The Nominees:
Joel Arnold
Year: Graduated May 2015
Degrees: Social relations and policy, urban and regional planning
Hometown: Flint, Michigan
Fun Fact: Plays trombone for some bands in Flint and used to play for the Spartan Marching Band.
Favorite MSU Memory: Attending the Rose Bowl and marching in the Rose Parade, which is one of his favorite memories in general as well.
Guilty Pleasure: Likes to watch a lot of "Family Guy" on Netflix. He is also a really big "Game of Thrones" fan and binge-watched five seasons to get caught up.
Bio: While he was a student, Arnold held the roles of blight management analyst and master planning intern for the city of Flint. Through those he discovered that he has a desire to help his hometown of Flint and other places that are struggling.
Arnold worked on a program called LiveWorkDetroit! to MSU when he was an undergraduate student. Designed to keep Michigan college graduates in state, LiveWorkDetroit! is attempting to reverse the effects of the “brain drain” occurring throughout Michigan. He studied abroad at Regent’s University in London.
“I’m pretty passionate about improving the lives of the people that live around me,” Arnold said.
He said the reason he studies public policy and why he keeps applying for these scholarships is because he thinks it’s important he uses his skills to tangibly improve the lives of the people around him and all across the country.
“Crafting public policy that reinvests in cities, that understands the dark past of international urban and social policy while understanding that we can avoid those mistakes in the future, and that most importantly gives forlorn places an opportunity to compete is what drives me every day,” he said. Arnold plans to study social policy and urban planning.
Margaret Born
Year: Senior
Majors: Comparative cultures and politics, Arabic
Hometown: Jackson, Wyoming
Fun Fact: “I’m from Wyoming, where there are more antelope than people.”
Favorite MSU Memory: “Cycling along the Red Cedar (River) in fall. I’ve never lived anywhere with deciduous trees before, so Michigan autumns blow my mind every time.”
Guilty Pleasure: “Sweet, sweet naps. I imagine heaven as a place where I can sleep whenever I want to.”
Bio: Born, who friends call Maggie, is the founder and president of student organization Project Nur, which combats Islamophobia through education and cross-cultural interaction. She has been caucus chair and leader for inclusion on the James Madison College Student Senate. Born has worked as an intern with the Michigan House of Representatives and Refugee Development Center and is now a MSU Office of Study Abroad peer adviser.
Born said enthusiasm for the next adventure drives her, and she’s always constantly surprised and encouraged with the curves life throws at her.
“Sometimes it’s hard to wake up and face a day of responsibilities, but what really makes the difference is the kindness of the people around me,” she said. “The way strangers hold the door, or compliment your shirt, or smile for no reason, the way friends make you laugh until your sides hurt and professors go beyond your grades to make sure you’re doing OK. People have such an infinite capacity for kindness, and it always inspires me to keep pushing through.”
Born plans to study international peace studies. She will be pursuing her master’s degree in Ireland and said she is hungry to learn all she can there.
Rebecca Carlson
Year: Senior
Major: Chemical engineering
Hometown: Rockford, Michigan
Fun Fact: "I have had my hair cut on three different continents."
Favorite MSU Memory: Going to the Dairy Store every Friday after her chemical engineering courses.
Guilty Pleasure: “Watching gymnastics videos. The Olympics definitely made it hard to focus in the lab this summer.”
Bio: Carlson is a research assistant in an applied biomolecular engineering lab. She also works as a student ambassador for the Undergraduate Research Office. Carlson was named an Evergrande Scholar and from there had the opportunity the work at Harvard Medical School’s Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases. In addition, Carlson is also a member of the Red Cedar Undergraduate Research Journal (ReCUR) Student Editorial Board. Through all of her experiences, Carlson hopes to build relationships with scientists all over the world, mentor new scientists trying to learn “the language of research” and develop approaches to understanding the immune system. By becoming an engineer and a scientist, she wants to act as an “interpreter” across different fields and use original research to contribute new knowledge to the world.
Carlson said that God helps her through the rough times and helps her get through each day.
“Whenever my busy schedule gets stressful, I always remember how many opportunities that God has blessed me with,” she said. “I believe that He has placed me where I am for a reason and I want to do my best to use what I have been given for His glory each day.”
Carlson plans to study bioinformatics and theoretical systems biology.
Eamon Devlin
Year: Senior
Majors: Environmental studies and sustainability, Fisheries and wildlife
Hometown: Farmington Hills, Michigan
Fun Fact: He is an avid hockey fan. Throughout high school he volunteered as a coach for a developmental hockey program called Timbits, which teaches young kids the basics of hockey. Whenever he goes home he still tries to stop by and help out. He said his twitter feed consists mainly of news and hockey updates.
Favorite MSU Memory: His various study abroad and study away trips to Yellowstone National Park, Washington D.C., New Zealand and Antarctica. He said Antarctica particularly stands out to him.
“The people I went with were incredible, and Antarctica was stunning. From the ice capped mountains to pieces of ice that had turned blue from years of pressure and of course amazing wildlife like penguins, the whole experience was spectacular!”
Guilty Pleasure: He loves Tim Hortons. He said the Ice Cappuccino is his favorite drink ever.
Bio: Devlin has participated in study abroad programs through MSU in Antarctica and New Zealand, where he learned about various ecosystems and the human dimensions that are associated with them. Through these programs he has had the opportunity to interact with many different people in a variety of cultures. In addition to studying abroad, Devlin also participated in study away programs to Washington D.C. and Yellowstone National Park. Devlin, who worked as a national air program assistant for the U.S. Forest Service, raised funds and developed an app to connect individuals with grasslands and forest. Devlin has also served as a liaison between the U.S. Forest Service and eNature, the app's company for which he conducted continuous research.
Devlin said two things that drive him are curiosity and a desire to improve. He said he loves to learn and can find something interesting in everything. Besides hockey, Devlin said that his other passions include protecting the environment.
“It started out as loving animals from idols like Steve Irwin, and it broadened to an appreciation of ecosystems and nature in general,” he said. “I want to preserve these animals and ecosystems that I love so much and have been fortunate enough to be able to see either in person or through documentaries and shows.
Devlin plans to study environmental change and management.
“My generation’s most pressing problems are centered on environmental change, and finding sustainable solutions before we cross tipping points,” he said. “I want to be part of a group that reverses the model of exploiting the environment, to one that learns to value and sustainably live within it.”
Clara Lepard
Year: Senior
Major: Zoology
Hometown: East Lansing, Michigan
Fun Fact: When she was younger her family lived in North Hollywood, California. When she was a toddler, she once accidentally body slammed Bob Hope’s wheelchair at the dentist’s office.
Favorite MSU Memory: One that stands out for her is the "midnight scream" during finals week. She said nothing really captures Spartan solidarity more than yelling as loud as possible at midnight in the face of finals week.
Guilty Pleasure: She said she owns way too many strings of light and that her room looks like the house in “Stranger Things.”
Bio: Lepard, who attended a study abroad program in Kenya that focused on the behavioral ecology of African mammals, is currently a research assistant working on the ecology of carnivores and their prey. In addition, Lepard has worked in seven different laboratories focusing on different areas of zoology and wildlife management. Lepard, who is a resident assistant in Mason Hall, serves as the secretary for Mason Hall government and as a sexual assault and relationship violence prevention peer educator.
Lepard said that her passion stems from wanting to conserve the environment. “I am passionate about protecting biodiversity on our planet, and doing all that I can to ensure our planet hosts a vibrant and dazzling array of life,” she said. “Hand in hand with that mission is my commitment to social justice. I hope that through ecological research and collaboration with local communities, my career will foster conservation policies that help both people and biodiversity.”
Lepard plans to study biodiversity, conservation and management.
Alana O’Mara
Year: Senior
Major: Neuroscience
Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Fun Fact: She has a dog named Jim Beau and said she is pretty decent at Limbo.
Favorite MSU Memory: O’Mara said her favorite memory was waking up to a snow day her freshman year during the beginning of spring semester. The cross-country team had to run nine miles on the indoor track in Jenison Field House because it was around -20 degrees Fahrenheit outside. She said she legitimately had a great time running in circles for an hour.
Guilty Pleasure: Eating frozen cashews, almonds and trail mix, Kombucha, grocery and online shopping.
Bio: O’Mara received the Big-Ten Scholar Athlete award while she was a member of MSU's cross-country team. O'Mara has also studied abroad in Switzerland and Ireland, and volunteers at Parkinson’s Dance Group, a group that employs dance therapy to bring together Parkinson’s patients. In addition to volunteering, O'Mara also interned at the National Institute of Health at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute during the summer, where she used social media to increase awareness of pediatric clinical studies. O’Mara also interned at a lab at MSU, where she studied avian behavior and cloned the PSEN1 gene responsible for Alzheimer’s. O’Mara plans to study either neuroscience or ageing, gerontology and degenerative diseases.
O’Mara said that she is inspired by all the brilliant people around her, from her parents to her roommates. She said she wants to help people and that she wants to study transnational medicine because of a lag from laboratory research to clinical use.
“I am passionate about helping this community and understanding their concerns as we move forward with research,” she said. “Looking to the future, we need markers for earlier diagnosis and effective treatments.”
