September 26, 2023 – Emily Jodway
Political science scholar Megan Smeikal is one of 10 MSU students nominated for the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Megan is majoring in Political Science, Economics, and History in the School of Social Sciences. She is a graduate of Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
Her political/research interests include affordable health care, diversity, equity and inclusion, LGBTQ+ rights, democratic backsliding, gun reform, minimum wage, and climate change. Before her graduation, she hopes to complete two more of her research projects. One about the economic impact of abolishing for-profit health care, and her other about the causes of democratic backsliding in the United States. After graduation, she plans to attend law school and study constitutional law. Law. She hopes to one day work in public policy, particularly in a position that allocates funds.
Megan is one of five students from the School of Social Sciences who are nominated. Marshall Scholarships support students attending graduate school in the UK. This is considered one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world and, along with the Fulbright Scholarship, is the only scholarship widely available to Americans who wish to continue their studies in the UK.
MSU has produced 19 Marshall Scholars in the history of the fellowship. This year’s number of candidates reached double digits, compared to last year’s six students (one from the Faculty of Social Sciences) and one graduate. Half of this year’s participants are social scientists, spanning his four disciplines within the university. Additionally, all are members of the Honors College.
The Office of Distinguished Student Awards (formerly the Office of National/International Fellowships and Scholarships), administered by the Honors College, sponsored the nomination. This office helps undergraduate and graduate students pursue major national and international opportunities by providing information and direct support throughout the competitive application process.
The results of this competition will be determined in the coming months. The full list of MSU candidates can be found below.click here View the original MSU press release.
- Caroline Downs majored in biochemistry and molecular biology at Lyman-Briggs College. And she majored in anthropology at the College of Social Sciences (Berkeley High School in Berkeley, Michigan).
- Brennan Haugen, majoring in human biology in the College of Natural Sciences. She will study psychology at the College of Social Sciences (Battle Creek Regional Mathematics and Science Center, and Lakeview High School in Battle Creek, Michigan).
- Maren Nicolaisen majored in international relations at James Madison University. He majored in Economics at the College of Social Sciences (Kelly Walsh High School in Casper, Wyoming).
- Megan Smejkal, College of Social Sciences (Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, Illinois) majoring in political science, economics, and history.
- Dorothy Zhao, majoring in neuroscience and human biology in the College of Natural Sciences. She studied Psychology at the College of Social Sciences (Okemos High School, Okemos, Michigan).
- Alyssa Hakim, majoring in Arts and Humanities in the Residential College of Arts and Humanities. She attended James Madison University (Crestwood High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan) where she studied political theory and constitutional democracy.
- Kayleen Hall, majoring in Microbiology in the College of Natural Sciences (Lincoln-Way West High School, New Lenox, Illinois);
- Ashley Hurlock, Lyman Briggs College (Churchill High School, Livonia, Michigan) majoring in neuroscience and human biology.
- Tanvi Karkare is a Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience major at Lyman Briggs College (Canton High School, Canton, Michigan).
- Isaac Smith, College of Natural Sciences (West Bloomfield High School, West Bloomfield, Michigan) majoring in Physics and Advanced Mathematics.
MSU graduate candidates for the Marshall Scholarship were also members of the Honors College. they are:
- Caitlin (CJ) Sivak, Class of 2023 majoring in Urban and Regional Planning in the College of Social Sciences. He then studied linguistics in the College of Arts and Letters (Clarkston High School, Clarkston, Michigan).
- Zahra Ahmad is a 2022 graduate of James Madison University (Troy High School in Troy, Michigan) majoring in Comparative Culture and Political Science.
