Elizabeth "Tess" Corbin
Attending school is a great luxury for me, and one I have to work very hard to maintain. I run a small business cleaning houses to maintain a flexible schedule and time with my boys. I have been doing this for three years, and this year my eldest began having major medical problems. I feared I would have to quit school due to the emotional, time and financial strains this has added to my life. Your generosity has made it feasible to complete my education. Because of this award, I will be able to cut my cleaning time in half, and will be able to work as a teaching assistant in the general chemistry labs again next year. I love teaching these labs, and had to quit this year because of the financial and time strains.

I hope to be a teacher that makes chemistry accessible and relevant to students. It is certainly increasingly relevant every day in this rapidly advancing world. I hope to inspire students to believe that science is something they can understand and participate in, and show them the vast potential chemistry holds for improving the lives of all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. I hope to help kids choose, real, positive paths for their lives in a world that offers many attractive dead ends. I hope someday I can merit the trust and investment you have placed in me with your support.

Hillary Stacey
I am just graduating from Charles M. Russell High School this spring and will be in the top 10 of my class. I am very involved in my my high school; I am vice president of our drama club, a member of both symphonic band and the jazz band, and secretary of the honor society. This past year I received the Chemistry Senior award and the Senior Merit award in band. Last year I was outstanding Outstanding Junior for drama, and Best Thespian; this year I received first place at Thespian Festival for my clown death scene and an outstanding performance award for our one act. I have taken advantage of the many honors courses in my high school that have prepared me for the honors program at MSU. This last summer and this upcoming summer revolve mainly around my internship at the McLaughlin Research Institute. This summer I am on under a grant for teachers and future teachers to work together in the laboratory. Last summer I worked in Dr. George Carlson's lab. The focus of his research is prion diseases using mouse models. I was assigned my own project of culturing mouse neural cells and analyzing the proteins inside. The internship at MRI is very valuable to me both now and especially as a future college student and teacher.