California Lutheran University junior biochemistry major Elisha Tong was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation this past March.
According to The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation website, this scholarship is awarded to students who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Tim Hengst said this is one of the largest and most prestigious scholarships in the science and engineering fields. With a pool of 5000 students, only 400 are selected, Hengst said.
โTo have Cal Lutheran represented was quite a momentous occasion for us, and to actually have one of our students selected is really fantastic,โ Hengst said.
Tong said she thought biochemistry was the perfect way for her to continue doing research and experimentation to learn more about the world.
โIโve always liked science. Ever since I was a really young child, I participated in a lot of science fairs, both in elementary school and in middle school,โ Tong said.
Former biology professor Michael Abdelsayed said he met Tong before she attended Cal Lutheran, as he had worked with her sister, Alina. Tong said she started this research early in her college career, as a freshman, which is unique.
โShe excelled in everything she did, she was a top performer in my lab, and so I knew even as a freshman, she was performing as well as any senior,โ Abdelsayed said. โShe had the maturity of a senior student or a graduate-level student. So, she came in extremely prepared and worked very hard and was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable as well.โ
Tong said she worked with Abdelsayed during her freshman and sophomore year, studying ribonucleic acid, focusing on RNA thermometers.
Tong said she started by doing smaller projects in the laboratory prior to her freshman year to demonstrate her commitment to research. Over time, Tong got to do bigger projects and eventually was able to get published as a first co-author in a paper for the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
โShe was a very talented, bright researcher and she made several discoveries in my lab, and she did everything from the ground up,โ Abdelsayed said.
According to Abdelsayed, Tong was involved in all aspects of the research project, including the writing process and bioinformatics work.
โI think the highlight is the fact that research can go pretty slowly, but sometimes youโll have breakthroughs or moments where you finally understand whatโs going on, and I think that those are really rewarding, to see how far youโve come,โ Tong said.
During her research, Tong said she found difficulty in advocating for herself and asking for help. According to Tong, she likes to work things out on her own, but over time, she realized that having different perspectives can be beneficial.
โIโve definitely learned that itโs really good to have different perspectives, whether thatโs another professor or another research student,โ Tong said. โIt can help you see different problems from another perspective.โ
Tong said she is looking forward to meeting the greater community of researchers. So far, Tong said she has been having virtual meetings with them, but she hopes to meet them in person soon.
Tong said that having research experience plays a big part in this scholarship, which is why she encourages fellow students to put themselves out there and work on research.
โI would definitely say just put yourself out there and try because even if you donโt win, you do get to learn a little bit more about yourself and you get to see what youโve accomplished and where you wanna go um in the future with your research,โ Tong said.
According to professor of Physics John Deisz, who serves as the Cal Lutheran contact point for the Goldwater scholarship, Tong approached him while showing interest in the scholarship. Deisz said Tong showed potential as she started working on research before she was a freshman, showing passion and motivation for her work. Thanks to the experience Deisz has, he said he was able to give Tong advice that was not on the scholarship website.
โHer credentials in her background are outstanding, and even though itโs a super competitive program, I was not surprised that she received the award,โ Deisz said. โItโs a strong reflection ofโ on her and on her hard work.โ
