A Winnfield Senior High School sophomore applied for and has been awarded full merit scholarships for three summer learning opportunities at three different universities.
Madison Foster, daughter of Sharda Foster, will attend a four-week summer-intense program in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. There she will be among only 25 national applicants in this summer internship working with a Johns Hopkins team on kidney disease. Travel, room and meals are included. She is excited about this opportunity, citing Johns Hopkins as the nation’s first research hospital, ranked No. 1 in biomedical engineering and No. 5 among American hospitals.
She may have to choose between two other summer program offers, as both two-week programs in New Orleans fall at the same time, she explained. At Dillard University under “DU Wishes” is a residential space force science program where she’d study quantum computer physics plus health disparity in space, sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Tulane’s offer, also residential, is a pre-college study program where interns will have the chance to interact with the university professors. Students will not only receive a close-up view of the Tulane campus but will be able to tour some other universities in the area.
Madison explained that her inspiration for these various studies was borne out of earlier experiences. “Last year I got to go to NASA in Cape Canaveral. It was one day and we were an all-girls group. We interacted with the all-women Delta Wing program where we saw a lot of women in high positions and got to ask them personal questions.”
And last summer, this young student spent about a month at Winn Parish Medical Center through the AHEC program. “There I worked with medical professionals to see what career I might be interested in. I’ve always had an interest in science and was intrigued with the radiology department at WPMC.”
Currently taking dual-enrollment classes to earn advance college credits, Madison is looking at post-secondary studies in the medical field, perhaps biology. At the moment, she feels her career goal may be in the field of radiology.
Landing these highly competitive summer intern chances took Madison through a series of essays and interviews. “I’m thankful to God for this opportunity, to my parents and grandparents for pushing and inspiring me to strive for greatness and for my teachers for their input on my educational journey.”