Kendra Wiese remembers the day College of Saint Mary officials surprised her with a life-changing opportunity during her senior year at Scotus Central Catholic High School in Columbus, Neb.
Kendra was awarded CSM’s prestigious Marie Curie Scholarship, which provides significant financial support and resources to outstanding young women pursuing study in STEM majors - biology, chemistry, math or human biology.
Marie Curie Scholars receive up to $20,000 annually for four years in gift aid. In addition to having access to substantial financial resources and facilities, participants also receive free tutoring, have opportunities for undergraduate research, and have access to top programs like the National Institute of Health and NASA research fellowships. Marie Curie Scholars also often attend and present at national conferences.
“Just to realize that I’d be going to college pretty much for free was a huge relief,” said Kendra. She just graduated in May with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry.
As a freshman, Kendra participated in a kickoff event with the four other students from her class who received the scholarship. This allowed her to build relationships with her peers and the faculty.
"That’s how I connected with Dr. (Phyllis) Higley to do research through a NASA grant my sophomore year,” she said. “I was funded to do research in the greenhouse here. I worked with different bacterium. That experience really helped me build my resume.”
In addition to her studies, Kendra participated in both golf and soccer while at CSM. “I actually wasn’t even thinking about doing sports at all, let alone two,” she explained. “The opportunities just came, and I was just so thankful that I took both of them. It really gave me a group of friends from the beginning. They say friends are one of the things that help in that transition from high school to college.”
Balancing academics and athletics took work, Kendra said. “It was difficult in the beginning, but everyone has, even between me and my teammates, we all have our own schedules and ways of organizing,” she said. “You really have to figure out where classes are and where practice is, where you’re going to do homework.”
Kendra is grateful for the opportunities that the Marie Curie Scholarship afforded her. “I think it’s really hit me how much of an impact this had on my future life goals. Because of the Marie Curie Scholarship I have more money saved up to use towards graduate school,” Kendra said. “It was just huge.”
Kendra was recently accepted to Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn.
