Scholarship ‘game-changer’ for NPC student
Cory Morris, a biochemistry engineering student at National Park College, has been selected for the Phi Theta Kappa Guistwhite Scholarship, a $5,000 award to be used for baccalaureate studies.
“It is a game-changer. It’s one of the things that you work so hard for. You don’t expect it when you submit an application for the scholarship,” Morris said. “It’s something that you go through because it is what you work for, but it’s not with the expectation. It’s a pretty powerful moment. We’re looking forward to seeing how it makes a difference in our lives.”
Morris said he feels he was selected because of his dedication, commitment and perseverance, all of the things he didn’t necessarily have in the right quantities going through school as a child.
Having the opportunity to come back to school as a father with three boys that are wonderful, vibrant and full of energy, but also very impressionable, gives him something to fight for in different ways, he said.
Fully plugging himself into the opportunities available on the campus has made the difference, he said, noting it also impacted his portfolio, which made him become a candidate for the scholarship.
Students apply one time at http://www. ptk.org in fall and spring and the website enters them for consideration for scholarships they might qualify for, he said.
“If there was a video component, I don’t know if I wouldn’t have entered it. This video referencing has always terrified me and it’s something that I’m still trying to come to terms with, but given the situation, I think we’re all getting a little bit more face time than we might be used to,” he said.
Morris chose to go into biochemistry and material science. Biochemistry is the newest component, and it’s an opportunity that was only brought to the campus by Southern Arkansas University, Morris said, noting the scholarship is for applicants that want to transfer to a four-year university.
“It’s been an exciting ride. I love the more I get exposed to science, the more I learn about it, the more I see the connecThe
tions between physics and chemistry. National Park has been instrumental in helping me to find my path, but I would say that it is still ever-evolving,” he said.
Morris will complete courses at NPC in the fall for his engineering degree. He will go on to enroll in the biochemical engineering program offered at NPC through its partnership with SAU. His ultimate goal is to study materials science, involving the properties of man-made and natural materials, he said in a news release.
Morris said he got into material science because of the Clean Water Act that was repealed in 2017, noting he felt allowing people to dump whatever they want into an expanded amount of waterways is terrible.
He said he found just getting the facts was not enough and that he had to do something about it, prompting him to go into engineering which led him to material science.
“Trying to figure out new ways that we can build and create and maintain the kinds of lives that we want and that we require for comfort and prosperity, but in a better, more sustainable and cheaper way,” he said, “that is what material science can help us to do.”
“Thank you, PTK, for these opportunities. It is what drew me into PTK in the first place. I found so much more in my experience with PTK, and I look forward to working as an alumni for years to come,” Morris said.