Patrice Baumhardt is a Presidential Scholar majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry. She is scheduled to graduate in May 2009.
Patrice has a life-long dream: to be a Marine Biologist—to discover something new. She is one step closer to her dream because she spent eight weeks in the summer of 2006 in Maine at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. Enthusiasm bursts from the seams as Patrice relates her experiences. She will eagerly describe her work in the lab with killifish and amino acids—just ask! Patrice stayed in a dormitory with other college students from various states and countries and stays in touch with many of them.
She enjoyed her first-time-ever swimming experience in the ocean. The ocean was right out the door of the lab and provided an exciting natural lab of sea creatures including sharks and dolphins. Other exploring included: Mt. Catillac (the tallest mountain on the east coast); beautiful Arcadia National Park; and whale watching tours (she saw 7 whales on one excursion!).
The most important thing she learned from her experience? Patrice will readily attest to the vast amount of hands-on experience she gained. She became skilled with the research instruments as well as formulating and conducting experiments. Back at ISU in the fall, she saw the benefits of her experience in Maine when she had already used many of the instruments that were simply being discussed in the classroom.
It is highly unusual for a freshman student to get an internship of this caliber. Patrice credits this wonderful opportunity to an assignment given to her in her Presidential Scholars Colloquium in the fall semester of her freshman year. The assignment required each student to interview two faculty members in their major. Patrice chose Professor Robert Preston. At the end of the interview, Dr. Preston encouraged Patrice to apply for an internship as his research assistant in Maine—and the rest is history!
Patrice’s college career has just begun, but she already knows what she wants to accomplish! She will head back to Maine for the summer of 2007, and is applying to study abroad in Australia for the fall 2007 semester. Along with studying, she plans to fulfill another life-long dream—scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. She has also made contact multiple times with the Challenger Learning Center representative at the Service Learning Fair. She hopes to volunteer at the center during her spring 2008 semester.
Patrice has experienced many of the benefits of being in the Honors Program. It has been exciting to meet new people and develop new friendships, register early, have opportunities for scholarship money, and resources to find research and internship opportunities. She recommends in-course honors credit to gain a more in-depth learning experience and get to know your professors. Professors make wonderful recommendations if they know you. Patrice found this when she needed recommendations for the Goldwater Scholarship and for her study abroad application. Patrice was awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for the 2008-09 academic year, after receiving an Honorable Mention in the 2007 competition.
