By Ashley Bradley/ne news editor
Students who are juniors or will be in spring 2010 can apply for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship to win up to $7,500.
Students eligible are those interested in careers in mathematics, natural sciences or engineering, as well as be in the upper fourth of their class and be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or permanent resident. Students also must be nominated by NE natural sciences associate professor Robert Edmonds, the faculty representative.
Edmonds said he wants overly exceptional students to nominate for this award because he can choose only two. He said the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation asks him to look for students who are both smart and have a desire to continue with a career in their field.
He said the award is extremely prestigious, and because it’s a national award, it would be an honor just to receive an honorable mention.
“There has never been a student win on this campus, but we do get students at TCC that are talented,” he said. “We will really be looking for two students who have a great shot at winning.”
Students interested in applying should contact Edmonds and turn in their transcript, three recommendations and an essay that discusses a problem in their field of study and ways to fix it. Edmonds said it’s really based on two things: content and style.
“The essay is like a scientific abstract,” Edmonds said. “I’ll be working with students to help them edit their essays, but I won’t write them for them.”
He said out of about 1,200 applicants, about 300 students win the scholarship nationwide. The foundation distributes the winners among regions, a certain number per state, so that not only one area of the U.S. receives the awards.
Congress first approved the scholarship in 1986 to honor Barry Goldwater, a presidential candidate in 1964 and a former five-term Republican senator from Arizona.
The deadline for nomination is Jan. 29, and all documents must be submitted by Feb. 1. For more information, contact Edmonds at robert.edmonds@tccd.edu or visit http://www.act.org/goldwater/index.html.
